The Brolo of the Convent of San Francesco is located on the hill behind the ancient convent built by the Franciscan friars in the early fifteenth century. It is bordered by Calle Madonna della Neve and by a stretch of the ruins of the fourteenth-century walls of Conegliano.
The friars cultivated the Brolo, the hortus conclusus of the convent, as a vegetable garden and vineyard for more than four centuries, obtaining fruit and vegetables for their table. With the Napoleonic laws it became private property and the ancient walls served as a quarry for building material. The last owner, Mrs. Annamaria Carpenè, donated the land to the Municipality of Conegliano in 1986. It remained completely abandoned for many years. In 1992 the section of Italia Nostra proposed to the administration of the Municipality of Conegliano to take over its management. Once the concession has been obtained, since 1994 the same section has taken care of the recovery of the Brolo at its own expense, restoring the ancient crops to obtain a garden full of vines, olive trees and fruit trees.
From the vines grown in the Brolo, the members obtain a “fragolino wine” vinified and bottled in the place; the olives, harvested in the small olive grove and brought to a nearby oil mill, produce an excellent oil and jams are made from the fruit.
