Vigo di Fassa – Distant origins

Vigo di Fassa is situated in the geographical centre of the Val di Fassa in one of the best sunlit areas of the territory.

The first valley settlements date back to the pre-historic era but were located further up, where the St. Juliana church would be subsequently built. At the time of the Reti, an Italic population that lived the Alpine arch in the centuries preceding the Roman conquest, a castelliere stood there, that is a fortified settlement not dissimilar to the more famous one of Doss dei Pigui, above Campitello, which was probably used for religious or ritual functions rather than for defensive ones.
The archaeological finds tell us of a stable presence during the entire Iron Age.

Following a disastrous landslide that destroyed it completely, the village was rebuilt further below.

During the Tyrolese period (from the low Middle Ages to the Great War) Vigo di Fassa was the religious and political centre of the valley: in fact, it was the seat of the local religious power at the Saint John’s parish church () as well as of the secular power in the Torn de Vich area, in addition to that of the General Community of Fassa, the main self-governing means of the local population.

Also one the Schützen groups, soldiers in charge of defending the valley, were lodged in Vigo di Fassa, where also the Massar and the Savoy - the only local noble families - dwelled. Today Vigo counts little more than a thousand inhabitants. Its economy is mainly tourism-based. The village is, in fact, an appreciated ski resort in winter and a lovely starting point for excursions and promenades in summer.

Some traditional agricultural and handicraft activities, however, survive to this day. As in the rest of the valley, there is a strong sense of the Ladin identity. The Istitut Cultural Ladin “Majon di Fascegn” and the Mujeo Ladin de Fascia are located in San Giovanni/ St. John: the museums are not to be missed if you wish to know something more about this old and peculiar ethno-linguistic minority.