San Giovanni Battista (Italian: Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista, literally "Church of Saint John the Baptist") is a Roman Catholic church in the historic centre of Erice, Sicily. It is one of three confraternity churches in the town, together with Sant'Orsola and San Martino.
San Giovanni Battista is considered one of the oldest churches of Erice, though the date of its foundation is uncertain. A plaque inscription suggests that the church dates back to the era of Emperor Constantine in the 4th century. The original building was small, rectangular in plan, and oriented east–west, with its main entrance at what is now the eastern portal. Scholars differ in dating this portal, with Caracciolo attributing it to the 12th century and Scuderi to the 14th.[1][2]
Between 1430 and 1436 the church was rebuilt in Gothic forms at the expense of the confraternity. In 1631 Don Matteo Buonfiglio financed a major expansion that gave the church its present plan: a single, luminous nave oriented north–south, measuring 35 metres in length and 10 metres in width, making it the most spacious church in Erice.[2]
Closed for worship for many years, the church underwent restoration in the 1970s to strengthen the stone structure. During these works, an 18th-century polychrome ceramic floor was removed and replaced with red brick tiles, while tombs once set into the pavement were also taken away.[2]
Architecture and artworks
The church retains elements of the medieval structure, including its lateral portals and traces of frescoes. The eastern portal is a late Gothic feature with zig-zag (denti di sega) decoration, fronted by a fan-shaped staircase.[1]
The interior houses some of the most notable sculptures in Erice. On the main altar is a marble statue of the patron saint by Antonino Gagini (1520), while to the right of the crossing stands a statue of Saint John the Baptist by Antonello Gagini (1522). Other works include statues of the Virgin and Saint Elizabeth (15th century, unknown author), a holy water font of 1523 in the Gaginian style, and an elaborate wrought-iron gate crafted by Carlo Cetino in 1811.[2]
The apse preserves medieval frescoes originally from the rock church of Santa Maria Maddalena, while the church also serves as a repository for marble and stucco works no longer in their original locations.[1]
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