St. Vigil am Joch

Building information board

St. Vigilius am Joch is a Roman Catholic church, which is located at 1793 m on the Vigiljoch near Lana in South Tyrol .

history

Stone Age finds indicate that the church was built on the site of a pagan cult site . The documents show that the St. Vigilius Church once had two church saints: St. Peter and St. Vigilius . The patronage of Peter indicates that the Church is very old. The change in the patron saint to St. Vigilius was probably intended to underline the power of the Trento bishops on the northern border of their diocesan area over the diocese of Chur . It has been owned by the Weingarten Monastery since 1278 . In 1431, the waiter Nikolaus Jordan, on behalf of the sovereign, granted the mountain pasture and church of the village of Oberlana to the right of inheritance . Since the 14th century, the residents of Pawigl have had the right to appoint sacristans and maintain the church.

The architecture allows a dating to the high Middle Ages (mentioned in a document in 1452). The remaining nave walls are Romanesque. Originally the church had a wooden flat ceiling. The Gothic choir , which is significantly higher than the nave , and the tower in its current form were built around 1500 . In the 17th century a barrel vault was dug into the nave, which with its supporting pillars damaged the beautiful frescoes from the middle of the 14th century.

After 1788, the branch church of the Lana parish was closed under Emperor Joseph II and used as a cattle shed by the then alpine owner.

regional customs

The St. Vigilius Church was considered a weather church that was supposed to protect people from storms . In the parish archives of Lana a petition on the patronage festival (June 26th) for St. Vigilius is mentioned, to avert "the high thunderstorms, showers (hailstorms), thunder and lightning". Even today, the traditional church day on the Vigiljoch is celebrated every year in June , with a mountain mass in the St. Vigilius Church and subsequent concerts, dances and special dishes at various locations throughout the Vigiljoch area.

Furnishing

14th century frescoes depicting apostles

Sanctuary

The frescoes - possibly by an artist who also worked in the Maria Trost Church in Merano - are an extraordinary art treasure. On the south side the twelve apostles are depicted with expressive faces, flowing robes and with their attributes. On the north wall fragments of a crucifixion group are preserved, the Virgin Mary and the Apostle John can be recognized. A crucifix and a baroque painting of the church patron hang over the altar . The statues next to the crucifix represent St. Vigilius and the apostle James .