Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista, Romanesque church in Matera, Italy
Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista is a Romanesque church in Matera featuring three aisles divided by eight pillars. The central nave displays a barrel vault while the side aisles are covered with cross vaults.
The building was constructed between 1230 and 1233 on the foundation of an earlier church called Santa Maria Nuova. Augustinian nuns who had arrived from Palestine in 1198 occupied this site.
The church displays layered cultural influences through its stonework: the entrance portals show Arabic patterns, while the arches reflect Gothic taste and the floor plan follows a Greek cross design. Walkers through the interior notice how these different traditions appear together in one space.
Access is available daily in the early morning and afternoon hours with a midday break. There is no entrance fee, allowing visitors to explore the interior at their own pace.
In 1610 the original facade became part of an adjacent hospital, and the former right side of the building was repurposed as the main entrance. This transformation reveals how the church adapted to urban changes over the centuries.
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