Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta

A legend, recorded in a parchment kept in the Trapp archive, attributes the construction of the church of Brancafora to Pope Boniface IV, who lived in the 7th century, and who would have enriched it with many indulgences. The most recent historical reflection dates the beginning of ecclesiastical activity in Pedemonte to the time of the establishment of the hospice for pilgrims and travelers in this location. Brancafora was well-suited for this activity as it was precisely there that the road of the Astico valley, which connected Vicentino to Trentino and Alemagna, deviated towards the basin of Caldonazzo and Levico in the upper Valsugana.

Next to the hospice, a church dedicated to Santa Maria was soon erected, without any further specification. "Santa Maria di Brancafora" is the name that indicates both the church and the locality, and this remained the case until the end of the 1700s. In fact, since the beginning of the millennium, a notable devotion to the Madonna of Brancafora developed. Written testimonies of such devotion date back to the 1300s and record the arrival of pilgrims both from the upper Vicentino (Piovene, Schiavon) and from Trentino (Caldonazzo and Levico). Historian Dal Pozzo, in the second half of the 1700s, speaks of the annual pilgrimages made by the parish communities of the Seven Municipalities, Folgaria, and Lavarone. The numerous legacies documented in the visitation records, located in the area of Levico and Caldonazzo, originate from this devotion.

From the beginning, all the farms scattered in the terminal part of the Astico valley and partly also on the high plateau referred to the church of Brancafora, as it was the only existing church in the area. When in the mid-1400s or early 1500s (the date is uncertain) the church was elevated to parish status, all the faithful from the farms of Scalzeri, Longhi, Ciechi, Carotte, Luserna, as well as Montepiano, Ponteposta, Giaconi, Snideri, will be attributed to it, even if located on the right side of the Astico. From 1752, Lastebasse will be annexed, a community that descended from the plateau of Folgaria following conflicts with that community. Luserna, Casotto, and Lastebasse will separate from the mother church and will be erected as curacies only after the mid-1700s. This is confirmed by the Book of Baptisms and deaths from the Brancafora archive.