Chiesa di San Sebastiano

The Church of Saint Sebastian in Cavalese began as a votive chapel founded in 1464 by the Regola after a plague vow. Rebuilt in neo-Romanesque form in 1870–71, it retains a Gothic tower that also served the town as a civic landmark.

Why it matters

The church embodies both religious devotion and civic life in Cavalese. The tower’s clock and civic role connect it to the town, while furnishings preserved through later rebuilding document its religious history. Municipal usage also gives the dedication as Saints Sebastian and Fabian.

What to notice

The wooden tabernacle from a seventeenth-century altar contains a bas-relief of the Last Supper, with the apostles arranged around a round table. A carved crucifix dated 1525 hangs above the apse. The tower, integrated into the façade, was given its present merlons in 1805 by Antonio Longo. At its base, an aedicule contains a statue of John of Nepomuk, associated with protection from floods of the nearby Gambìs stream.

Context and history

The Regola founded the chapel in 1464 in fulfilment of a vow after the plague. The building was enlarged in the sixteenth century before being reconstructed in neo-Romanesque forms in 1870–71; the Gothic tower was retained. A major interior reorganisation took place in 1970–71. Restoration in 2002 recovered the nineteenth-century Way of the Cross by Cavalese painter Carlo Vanzo and other painted details.