Holy Spirit Church

The Holy Spirit chapel at the head of the Valle Aurina in Casere is one of the most fascinating pilgrimage sites of South Tyrol. While the construction date of this small church is unknown to this day it is certain that it was built for the miners who used to work in the nearby Predoi mine where copper was extracted. Furthermore it also served as a refuge for the hikers walking to Pinzgau or Salzburg via the Krimmler Tauern mountains. According to legends this monument was built above an underground bell which was heard to be ringing. As the inhabitants of the village dug for this bell they found a portrait of the Holy Spirit which continued to reappear behind the rock where the church was built even after having been removed.

The church dedicated to the Holy Spirit was first mentioned in 1455 following the consecration of both the church and the cemetery by the bishop and cardinal Nikolaus Cusanus from Bressanone. Around 1500 during the enlargement of the church, the artworks inside it were removed and put into a sealed box before being returned to the church in 1981 when they became available to visitors once again. Other works worth mentioning are the representation of the Holy Trinity behind the tabernacle, the wooden statues dedicated to the Saints Oswald, Kilian, Ursula, Francis and Andrew and the several frescoes which increase the church's artistic value considerably.

The Holy Trinity church is particularly famous for its cross perforated by bullets and mentioned in numerous legends. This cross once used to stand in front of the Prastmann-Hof farm but one day a shooter who was heading to Pinzgau where he participated in a prize shooting competition wanted to test his shooting abilities for a last time before the competition. In Pinzgau he was lucky enough to win a bull. As he walked past the aforementioned cross with the bull by his side on his way home, the animal got angry and killed the man. Nowadays the via crucis of Casere takes you from Casere to the famous church. Along both sides of the path stand wooden pillars covered with reliefs depicting the stations of the cross. They were created by several youth associations and some students of the wood carving school of San Giacomo.