Chiesa di San Vigilio e Convento dei Frati Francescani

The Church of San Vigilio and its Franciscan convent preserve a late-seventeenth-century religious complex in Cavalese. Church furnishings, cloister decoration and paintings connect the site with the artistic culture of Val di Fiemme.

Why it matters

The convent's picture gallery brings together works by Fiemme painters. This artistic inheritance complements the architecture of a community whose religious life generated commissions, collections and devotional images over time.

What to notice

Three seventeenth-century wooden altars furnish the church, alongside paintings depicting Franciscan saints. In the cloister, large wall paintings accompany a series of thirty-five seventeenth-century copper engravings illustrating the stories of martyrs. The difference between painted surfaces and printed images gives the decorative ensemble a varied character.

Context and history

The complex was built towards the end of the seventeenth century, and the church was consecrated to San Vigilio in 1689. A major restoration in 1994 addressed the roof, interiors, cloister and Sala Bonelli, conserving both the buildings and their artistic setting.