The etymology of Ponteposta stems from the bridge (ponte) that connected Scàlzeri, an Austrian town until 1918, with the hamlet of Pòsta, in Lastebasse. The bridge was known locally as “Pònteposta”, i.e. “Bridge for Pòsta”. It is a curious, but common example of a name that originally meant one place (the bridge) but ended up meaning another as time passed and its usage became common in spoken language. In this case, it no longer referred to the bridge alone, but to an entire district. The name “alla Pòsta” or “Pòsta”, on the other hand, referred to the “posta del legname”, i.e. lumber stacked along the River Astico before being transported. It is not a reference to the postal service, as is sometimes believed.
On the first pastoral visit in 1647, documents spoke of “Chiesa alla Posta di Lastebasse”; it was built in 1625 and described as a “country church”, namely a chapel for worshippers who lived in remote places, such as Montepiano, a fair way from the parish of Brancafora. Also remember that Brancafora was, at the time, under the Principality of Trento, thus the rivers Astico and Tora acted as a state border, dividing it from the domains of the Republic of Venice where the new church had been built.
Originally dedicated to Saint Vincent, the chapel was later named after the founder of the church of Padua, Saint Prosdocimus. It was a poor church with a stone altar, above which was an image of Our Lady of the Assumption. Nor did it have any vestments, which were brought by chaplains and parish priests from Brancafora when they came for religious celebrations.
(Photo)
Archduke Karl I of Austria, nephew of Franz Joseph, is immortalised sitting in front of Ponteposta church where he had stopped to pray on 24 June 1916. At the archduke’s side was his brother-in-law, Prince René of Parma, second lieutenant of the 15th Dragoons Regiment. The two were driving back to Folgaria after visiting commanders of the Austrian division in Val d’Astico. The initial momentum of Austria’s May offensive had petered out and attempts to take the Veneto plain were suffering their first setbacks. Karl I was beatified by Pope John Paul II for his profound faith in St. Peter’s Square in Rome in 2004.
Sources:
Le nostre radici, Brancafora di Alberto Carotta, La Serenissima, 1997.
I nomi parlano, Alberto Baldassari, Publistampa Arti Grafiche, 2004.
La Grande Guerra nella Valle dell’Astico, Delmo Stenghele, Stamperia Stenghele, 2010.
