St. James’ Church - Dlieja da Sacun

The exact origin of the church can no longer be determined. Some historians assume that it was built around 1181. According to tradition, the Counts of Stetteneck are said to have been the builders of the church: However, they do not appear as a noble family until the second half of the 13th century. It was first mentioned in a surviving letter of indulgence dated August 18, 1283.

The church, Dlieja da Sacun in Ladin, is dedicated to Saint James, the apostle and patron saint of hikers and pilgrims. Together with its idyllic forest cemetery, where the deceased of the hamlet of San Giacomo (St. James) are buried, the church is surrounded by a shingle-roofed circular wall. The originally Romanesque core of the Church of St. James has undergone repeated structural changes over the centuries. Its present-day appearance is Gothic in character, while the interior features both Gothic and Baroque elements. The most valuable part of the church is considered to be the presbytery with its Gothic fresco cycle from the late 15th century.

A Lenten cloth with oil paintings from 1620/30 and the murals on the pulpit from the late 16th century are also of significant art-historical value. The carved high altar with its twisted columns and gilded figures of princes of the church, apostles, and angels is a particularly valuable example of local Baroque woodcarving. The works of art visible today are replicas.

The originals are housed in the Val Gardena Heritage Museum in Ortisei. While the Dlieja da Sacun is considered the oldest church in the entire valley, the Parish Church of Santa Cristina is the oldest parish church in the Val Gardena. A hike from Ortisei at the Seceda passes by here, and the Autumn Market "Segra Sacun" is also opened here in October with a mass.