The first mention of the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta in Cavalese dates back to the Patti Ghebardini (named after the bishop Count Ghebardo and who sanctioned the institution of the Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme ) signed in 1111. Based on what was found during the archaeological excavations carried out between 2005 and 2006, it is clear that the building had a rectangular plan and had no apse .
Some documents tell us that the church was consecrated on Sunday 17 May 1134 by Bishop Altemanno [1] but this appears strange because in 1134 17 May did not occur on Sunday: it is therefore assumed that the possible correct dates are 13 May of the same year either May 17 1136 or May 17 1142 .
In 1189 it was mentioned for the first time the bell tower. In 1377 the church became a collegiate and, during that century , the apse was added.
The building is the result of a renovation carried out between 1423 (or 1446) and 1514; in that period the bell tower was raised by Don Giovanni Giuseppe Alberti. [2]
In the 16th century the church was embellished and decorated with frescoes and paintings and the sacristy was built while the prothyrum was built in 1602 . In 1676, the bell tower, which had undergone a restoration in 1650, was seriously damaged by lightning and became the subject of a complex renovation work, conducted by the master builder Giacomo Antoniazzo; the bell tower was raised again in 1710.
Between 1804 and 1805 the presbytery and apse were rebuilt in neoclassical style . The church was restored in 1950 and the new flooring was laid between 1972 and 1973. In 2003 the parish was seriously damaged by a fire and an important restoration was necessary, carried out in the following years and reopened for worship on September 16, 2007
Reviews