Established in 1494 with religious purposes, related to the construction and operation of the Sanctuary, it is one of the oldest buildings outside the castle walls. From 1531, however, it also assumed welfare purposes, linked to the management of the “hospital” for the poor. In the history of Castel Rigone, the Confraternity was in fact very important also in the social field in providing for the rights and needs of the poorest citizens. From 1491 to about 1870, it set up a free school open to all by paying a teacher, it hired a “hospital worker”, that is a person dedicated to assisting the poor and the sick, it regularly distributed wine, flour, bread and cereals, it gave a dowry to the unmarried girls who have no property but “deserving for the honesty of morals”, it built a kindergarten and a Schola Cantorum.