Droane, Church of San Vigilio

Churches of Val Vestino

The small church of San Vigilio (St Vigilius) in Droane is dedicated to the bishop and martyr of Trento, who first brought Christianity to the Vestino Valley, and stands isolated on a hill overlooking the valley.

Images: Cheleo Multimedia

St Vigilius, who lived between the 4th and 5th centuries, received a pastoral education from St Ambrose, who sent him the missionaries Sisinnius, Martyrius, and Alexander to evangelise Trentino, Lake Garda, and the surrounding region, including the Brescia area.

He continued the work of evangelisation even after his three collaborators were martyred in Val di Non in 397, himself dying a martyr in Val Rendena by stoning, perhaps in 405, according to a late 6th century Passio. The extent of his apostolate is evidenced by the numerous dedications, including in the Brescia area, and the worship of his relics.

The small church of San Vigilio, along with the ancient Pieve of Turano, appears to have been one of the first churches in the valley, attested to as far back as 1186 in the bull of Pope Urban III. The religious building consists of a single barrel-vaulted nave with a gabled ceiling.

The last Saturday in June is the feast day of San Vigilio, which is linked with a special custom dating back several centuries. In an unspecified year, between 1496 and 1537, a plague epidemic spread through the village of Droane, nearly wiping out its population. The village had about 150 inhabitants at that time; only two elderly women survived.

Finding themselves alone, the two women sought refuge elsewhere, heading towards Magasa. Here, they were driven off for fear of contagion, so they had to continue on to Tignale. The effort was fatal to one of the two women, who died of exhaustion along the way, while the other reached her destination, where she found a warm welcome.

When she died, she bequeathed the land she owned to Droane, making the bequest subject to the observance of a clause: every year on 26 June, the day of San Vigilio, a Mass was to be held in her suffrage and at the end of it, a quintal of bread was to be distributed to those who attended.

This clause is still respected today and, on the appointed day, the parish priest goes up to the little church to renew the traditional rite. The mass was celebrated by the archpriest of Tignale until 1785, then by the parish priest of Turano; today, either he or his delegate still goes to this lonely place to fulfil the pious wish of the good woman. The ossuary of those who died of the plague is also blessed: it is located under the floor of the old church that stood next to the current one, which was rebuilt in 1877 and is surmounted by a tall concrete cross.

The church of San Vigilio in Droane is not just a place of worship: the annual celebration, rooted in the collective memory, keeps the connection with the past and the traditions of the local community alive.