San Giovanni Battista, Matera
Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista | ||
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Consecrated | 1230s |
The Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista is a Roman Catholic church dating to the 13th and 18th centuries, located in Matera in the Italian region of Basilicata, and dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. Like the Duomo, the church is an important example of Apulian Romanesque architecture.[1]
History
In 1215, "penitents" of Santa Maria di
In 1695, due to the poor state of the nearby parish church of San Giovanni Battista in Sasso Barisano, Antonio Del Ryos Colmenares, archbishop of Matera and Acerenza, with the agreement of the nuns of Accon, transferred the parish to the abandoned thirteenth century church of Santa Maria la Nova.[1][2] Ensuing eighteenth-century additions included the 1701 sacristy and 1735 Cappella del Santissimo Sacramento.[1] At the end of the century, due to the deterioration of the three domes over the transept, they were demolished and replaced with vaults.[1] To help contain the thrust of the new superstructure, the façade was lined with a series of arches, though leaving visible the original thirteenth-century portal, above which there is a statue of the Baptist.[1]
Description
The floor plan is that of a Latin cross with a central nave, with "Lecce vaults" [it], flanked on each side by an aisle with cross vaults.[1] In the left aisle there is a polychrome altar with a fresco above depicting Santa Maria la Nova, while in the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament there is a painting on canvas by local artist Vito Antonio Conversi .[1] In addition to ornate capitals, there are two sculptures attributed to the school of Altobello Persio.[1]
Piazza
The church opens onto and gives its name to a small
Filming took place in Piazza San Giovanni Battista for the James Bond film No Time to Die (the DB5 doughnut sequence); for this, a dummy bell tower was constructed, while the church exterior was covered in false walls to protect the stonework and to hide "numerous squibs".[3]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Matera, Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista" (in Italian). Istituto per le tecnologie della costruzione. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ISBN 978-3-643-11830-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-1789093599.
- ^ "Ex Ospedale di San Rocco con annessa Chiesa di Cristo Flagellato" (in Italian). Ministero della Cultura. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
External links
- (in Italian) Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista
- Virtual tour