The presence of an ancient church on the cliff of Monte Totoga at the entrance to the Valle di Primiero has its roots in history and legend. The church of San Silvestro (named after Pope Sylvester), built in the 13th century and opened every year on the occasion of the workers' day of 1 May, 31 December and Easter Monday, has always been an important symbolic place for the identity of the Primiero and Vanoi valleys.
Legend has it that the place originally chosen for the construction of the church was much further downstream, near the town of Masi, in Imèr. The materials for the construction of the church were left there, but the next day the builders found all the materials much higher up, at the point where we find the little church today. After some attempts to bring the material back downstream, the story continued to repeat itself, so as to convince the inhabitants that this was a divine sign, the will that the church be built at that point.
In the seventeenth century, the presence of a hermit, Cristoforo Segatta di Vigolo Vattaro, who was forbidden to leave the church for more than 15 days a year, and who was therefore helped by the inhabitants of Imer and Mezzano, is attested at the church.
Inside the church there is a fresco made by Rocco Naurizio in 1544 representing Jesus and four evangelists in the form of animals, very similar to the fresco in the Chapel of San Giacomo in Tonadìco, and frescoes of scenes from the life and martyrdom of San Giorgio, attributed to Marco da Mèl (1540).
San Silvestro, together with the churches of San Vittore, San Giovanni and Santa Romina, is one of the four peaks of an almost perfect cross called "La Crosèra". The cross, formed by two imaginary lines, was in the past a symbol of protection and devotion for the community of Primiero.
