Duomo Parrocchia dei SS Pietro e Paolo

In 1769, at the initiative of the parish priest Don Pietro Comino, the adventure of constructing the new Church (the current Cathedral) began. Without consulting various architects, it was decided to replicate, perhaps under the influence of the friars present in Villafranca, the palladian temple of the Redeemer in Venice, ex voto for the plague that hit Venice in 1577.

The work lasted over 100 years of effort and hardships due to wars, plagues, and financial difficulties. To generate economic resources, five altars from the old parish church were sold in 1877 for 6,000 lire to the parish of Castagnaro and in 1880 to Vangadizza.

The former parish church was ceded to the Municipality in 1782, without a written contract, behind a "subsidy" of 4,000 lire, divided into four installments, decided by council resolution. The parish priest Don Pietro Allegri attached some clauses: that the church would not be transformed into a theater, considered at the time a place ill-suited for the education of the people, and that the bell tower with the bells should remain the property of the fabric. None of these conditions were respected.

The adventure of building the Cathedral would see its realization amidst alternating events, on October 7, 1882, with the solemn consecration of the Temple by Cardinal Luigi di Canossa, with Don Allegri as parish priest. On January 28, 1890, the City Council, without consulting the parish priest, decided to demolish the bell tower due to static security concerns, and the materials obtained were used to construct the elementary schools of the capital, while the earthenware bricks from the tip of the bell tower were used to erect the wall of the garden of the Kindergarten on Corso Vittorio Emanuele.

The building of the old church, initially intended for meetings, school performances, etc., was transformed, much to the parish priest's dismay, into the Municipal Theater, which would operate until its demolition in 1967.

This is how Don Germano Alberti enthusiastically described the new church in the historical notes on the parish church of Villafranca in the 1927 manuscript: “the overall construction is grand and solemn. The bundles of Corinthian columns that rise giant-like beneath the cornice, the flight of arches of the lateral altars elegantly interspersed with columns, niches, and frames, and above all the exalted dome that majestically rises above the four triumphal arches of the transept, form a truly classic architectural complex, with effects of perspective of a wonderful harmony.”

From this moment on, work will also continue for the beautification of the church: altars, paintings, wooden and marble statues in the niches, the arrangement of the organ, re-casting of the concert of bells, heating and lighting systems, artistic stained glass windows, and all the normal maintenance of such an imposing structure.