CHURCH OF SAN GIOVANNI AND DIOCESAN MUSEUM, Presentation

Near the elegant Palazzo Vitelleschi, you’ll find the Church of San Giovanni Gerosolimitano, built between the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century, which originally belonged to the Order of Malta.

The facade, dating to the early 13th century, features a central portal, topped by an arch, and two side portals. If you look at the one on the left, you’ll notice that the architrave above it is in fact an early Christian sarcophagus from the 4th century, with a relief figure of the woman whose body it originally contained, depicted in the ancient gesture of prayer.

Set into the bottom of the beautiful wheel window, you can still see some of the sky blue majolica bowls that originally adorned the whole perimeter of the window.

Inside the church, you can admire the three Romanesque naves, with composite pillars and cross vaults, as well as the splendid early-sixteenth-century fresco The Lamentation of Christ, half of which remains on the wall. The fresco is attributed to Pier Matteo d’Amelia.  ...