San Giovanni Battista Church, Catholic church in Moretta, Italy

San Giovanni Battista Church is the parish church of Moretta, built in the Baroque style to a design by engineer Carlo Gerolamo Re and completed in 1717. Its concave west-facing facade is divided by a string-course cornice into two registers framed by pilasters: the lower holds the entrance portal with a semicircular tympanum, the upper, narrower one carries a fresco of Saint John the Baptist and a triangular pediment. Inside is a single nave with six side chapels under round arches, pilasters supporting a projecting cornice, and a barrel vault with penetrations leading to a balustraded presbytery and apse. A square-based bell tower stands beside the church, its belfry with a round-arched opening flanked by pilasters on each side and a four-pitched roof.

A church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist in Moretta is first documented in the 14th century, dependent on the pieve of Murello. By 1412 the parish function had passed to the church of Santa Maria del Borgo. At the start of the 18th century the present Baroque parish church was built to a design by engineer Carlo Gerolamo Re and completed in 1717.

The parish church is dedicated to John the Baptist, whose fresco crowns the upper register of the facade. In the 1980s the interior was adapted to post-conciliar norms with a new ambo and an altar facing the assembly, so Mass is now celebrated versus populum.

The church is located in the center of Moretta and is accessible during mass times and religious celebrations. Visitors should check ahead for service times to plan a visit accordingly.

The concave west facade is divided by a string-course cornice into two registers framed by pilasters; the lower one holds the entrance portal with a semicircular tympanum, restored in 2018, while the narrower upper register carries a fresco of Saint John the Baptist under a triangular pediment.