San Giovanni in Monte, 15th-century Roman Catholic church in Bologna, Italy
San Giovanni in Monte is a Gothic brick church in Bologna, rebuilt around 1450 with a three-lobed 1474 facade by Domenico Berardi and an octagonal lantern of 1496. Its Latin-cross interior has three naves on octagonal piers, cross vaults finished in 1603, and a bell tower over 40 m high. The Raphael and Perugino panels once here are now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale.
The church's origins reach back to 433 when Saint Petronius founded a round building called Monte Oliveto at this location. Over the centuries it was rebuilt multiple times, with the current Renaissance structure taking shape in the 15th century.
The church's name comes from the artificial hill on which it stands, built to recall the Mount of Olives as part of a re-enactment of the sites of Christ's Passion that included the nearby "Sette chiese". From the 17th century the Accademia Filarmonica held its annual concerts for Saint Anthony of Padua here; the concert of 30 August 1770 was probably attended by the fourteen-year-old Mozart. In the left transept chapel, a copy painted by Clemente Alberi in 1860-61 replaces Raphael's Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia, taken by Napoleon and now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale, inside the only surviving original frame of a Raphael painting.
The church is located at Piazza San Giovanni in Monte 3 and is easily reached on foot from the city center. Visitors should check opening hours beforehand, as worship services often affect visiting times.
During World War II, a 1944 bombing raid caused severe damage and destroyed three chapels inside. The restoration work between 1947 and 1950 returned the building to its current appearance.
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