Discover Tignes: Church Art and Local History

Church art, dairy history, and memories of Pieretto Bianco offer concrete starting points for exploring Tignes’s local history. These topics range from the building history of the parish church to historical information about milk processing.

Parish Church and Building History

The parish church is dedicated to Saint Martin. Records of an early church in Tignes date back to the early 1500s. After the original building was destroyed by an earthquake, reconstruction began in 1609. During this work, the church was separated from the bell tower and given a new orientation. The tower is a smaller-scale replica of the bell tower in Pieve.

Another chapter in the building’s history followed the 1936 earthquake, after which an apse was added. It still contains the only altar made of carved and painted stone. A document from 1662 also places Tignes in its historical context, listing it as one of 19 villages or local districts in the then Comune d’Alpago.

Paintings and Sculptures

The church houses a 17th-century altarpiece depicting the Madonna enthroned between Saint Martin and Saint Anthony the Great. The painting is unsigned and attributed to the Anonimo Veneto. Another painting depicts a Madonna surrounded by angels; it dates from the 17th or early 18th century, and its artist is unknown.

The sculptures also feature religious subjects. Above the side door is an equestrian statue of Saint Martin dating from 1800. In the niche opposite stands a stone statue of Saint John of Nepomuk. The paintings and figures feature different subjects and dates, which can be distinguished when looking at the church’s furnishings.

Pieretto Bianco and Tignes

The artist Pieretto Bianco is connected to Tignes through his family and several works. His father, Ferdinando Bortoluzzi, came from the village. During a short holiday in Tignes, Bianco painted frescoes in the salon and other rooms of Celeste D’Alpaos’s new house. Later restorations covered the frescoes. Bianco’s first painting, “Vecchio suonatore,” was a portrait of Bortolo Schizzi playing the violin and was associated with Tignes.

In the summer of 2025, a commemorative plaque was unveiled at Pieretto Bianco’s family home in Tignes. Bianco painted a cow on the façade of the village dairy; the fresco was still visible in the late 1970s. Tignes’s main street is named after him. These connections range from a work of art and a commemorative plaque to a local landmark.

Dairy History and Map Reference

Tignes’s social dairy was founded in 1884 and was among the first in the Belluno area. A document from 1932 records 70 members, about 85 cows, and a processed milk volume of 1,600 centners. The dates mark two different reference points: the dairy’s founding and the later documented scale of its milk processing.

For cycling directions, Tignes is marked on the official Valbelluna Bike map along the Anello della Val Belluna circuit. This also places the village name in the context of this regional mapped route.

Discover more destinations: Fonzaso, Pieve Di Cadore, Danta, Villapiana-ronchena, Livinallongo Del Col Di Lana, Lamon, Arsié, Alleghe.

For the broader travel overview: Belluno.