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The church of Pieve di Ledro and its history
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 Referring to the written documents we have, we found out that a collegiate church already existed in 1235, when the care of souls of all the Ledro villages was committed to the dean of Pieve di Ledro, who was helped in his job by many other priests and clerics. Even later when parish churches were built in every village, the dean of Pieve di Ledro had for a long time a control power on the other villages. In 1630 the plague that slaughtered the whole of Trentino miraculously preserved the people of Ledro (probably the ancient geographic isolation of the valley played in that occasion a positive role) and since 1636 they began to keep the "Quarant’Ore" vow (forty hours worship vow) they had made during their escape from danger. Yearly this vow is released at Whitsun tide, when with an important procession people gather in Pieve for a solemn Mass. Around 1650 the church was completely rebuilt in Renaissance style, decorated with magnificent romanic stucco works and provided with a roman bell-tower. During the Spanish War of Succession the church was gravely plundered and spoilt by the invasion of the French army (1703). Unfortunately WWI was even more disastrous: almost all the interior sacred decorations and altar pieces were destroyed. We can now admire only three of the many paintings that used to be in the church: the Annunciation (now on the high altar); the "Disputation of the Holy Sacrament" (first altar on the left) and the "Ecce Homo" (second altar on the left). All of them are excellent works by the Venetian school of painting. Also the wooden, lovely painted choir loggia was preserved from the wars’ effects. It is a masterpiece from the 18th century. A demanding restoration work started in 1931 and restored to the church its primitive beauty. We would like to draw your attention also to the small "San Martino" church on Mount Breno. You can reach it with the mountain paths nr. 456. |
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official web-site of Consorzio Pro Loco Valle di Ledro
