Surroundings

The church of San Giovanni Battista dates back to 1308 at the behest of the Blasi family. In 1397 the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament was added to the original church (on the left from the main entrance) and in 1435 the chapel dedicated to Saints James and Christopher. In 1454 the rebuilding of the church began and in 1460 the main door towards the square was opened. In 1489 the current chapel of the Addolorata was rebuilt. The current building dates back to the renovation of the second half of the 18th century. by the Bassano architect Giovanni Miazzi. In 1813 its large, monumental neo-Palladian façade was inaugurated, which overlooks Piazza Libertà, creating a north-south orientation and a singular plan, making it unique, compared to the canonical architectural standards and schemes, in fact the church develops in width rather than in length. The statues on the facade are by Antonio Bosa (1777-1849) and represent on the central pediment San Giovanni Battista, San Pietro and San Paolo; while on top of the wings of the facade San Clemente and three doctors of the Church. Inside, which takes place in a parallel direction, we find the Baroque chapel of the Sacrament, decorated with statues, cherubs and bas-reliefs by Orazio Marinali, to whom the street that runs along the left side of the church was dedicated and fine stuccoes by the Milanese Abbondio Stazio and Carpophore Mazzetti. The small altarpiece depicting St. John the Baptist as a young man in the desert is a masterpiece from the early years of the Piazzetta. Consecrated in 1847 by the Bassano Zaccaria Bricito bishop of Udine (1802-1851), it was reconsecrated, after the repair work for the damage suffered during the Second World War, in 1952 by the Vicentine Egidio Negrin (former archpriest abbot of Bassano), archbishop of Ravenna and later bishop of Treviso (1907-1958). It is a sacramental church.