The San Giovanni Battista Church is located about three kilometers outside the center of Assisi, in the municipality of Rivotorto. The church stands exactly at the point where the Via San Francesco continues in three directions, under the names Via della Regola, Via Liveranio and Via del Passaggio Vecchio.
San Giovanni Battista Church Assisi
Address, opening hours and entrance fee
Adres: Via della Regola – Assisi (Rivotorto). Telephone: +39 075 8064028.
History and description
The San Giovanni Battista Oratory is dedicated to the now no longer existing fraternity of St. John the Baptist.
When Napoleon banned the burial of people inside churches in the early 19th century, a cemetery was built next to the church.
The church was restored in the 1980s. This was done on the initiative of a lay society which was run by women. This Istituto Secolare delle Missionarie del Vangelo still takes care of the maintenance of the church.
After the 1997 earthquake, a new restoration was needed.
Three frescoes by anonymous artists can be seen in the church. The central “Baptism of Christ in the Jordan” was painted in 1564. The right-hand fresco shows “Mary with St. Francis and Sant’Antonio Abate.” The fresco on the left represents “Mary with Child and Saints Rocco, Antonio da Padova and Sebastiano”. Two more characters are depicted below, with a book, an iris and a heart.