San Giovanni Battista, Minor basilica in Lonato del Garda, Italy

San Giovanni Battista is a Baroque parish church built from white limestone on a cross-shaped plan, with a single nave and an octagonal dome rising over the old town. Its west facade of Botticino marble carries statues of Saints Catherine of Alexandria and Barbara on the side volutes and Saints Zeno and Annone in the upper niches; the main portal tympanum shows the town coat of arms with a rearing lion, two keys and three lilies.

After Lodrisio Visconti's troops destroyed San Zeno and the old settlement in 1339, the parish moved to the Cittadella and a church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist was built outside its walls. Rebuilt from 1488 and consecrated on 15 October 1540 by Bishop Gian Matteo Giberti, it was replaced from 1738 to 1762 on a design by Paolo Soratini, consecrated on 22 October 1780 by Bishop Giovanni Morosini, and made a minor basilica by John Paul II in September 1980.

The basilica houses 13 side altars decorated with Venetian artworks, including Giambettino Cignaroli's painting of the Preaching of Saint John the Baptist. These artistic treasures show the work of regional masters that visitors encounter as they walk through the interior.

The building serves as the parish church with regular religious services and community gatherings throughout the year. Visitors should know that access may be restricted during Mass times, and modest dress is expected.

The church holds a 1528 Renaissance polyptych by Bernardino Licinio, showing the Resurrection with the Mourning Madonna and the Baptist at its sides, kept in the sacristy rather than the nave. The sacristy entrance is topped by a portrait of the architect Paolo Soratini.