Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista (Church of St John the Baptist)

The Church of St John the Baptist stands on the uppermost part of the village of Lunamatrona.
If you stand outside just for a minute, you will see the façade of the building with the high bell-tower topped by a small dome, which interacts with a clock tower built at the opposite end, and a Gothic-style ogival door.
When you step inside, you will be surprised by the ornamental apparatus of frescoes and decorations, in sharp contrast with the style of the façade. The interior has a single nave, with extremely valuable works of sacred art and liturgical items along the sides. The most noteworthy of them are a 1691 wooden pulpit from the Cathedral of Ales and a stoup from the early 19th century.
Extremely interesting is also the reredos of Saint Mary, made circa 1500 by the Sardinian painter Antioco Mainas. The wooden frame that holds the group of paintings is gilded and sculpted in the late Gothic and Mannerist style. The works it contains portray scenes from the life of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and the Saints. A Virgin and Child enthroned and a Crucifixion stand out in the middle; on the side, the Archangel Gabriel, the Virgin of Annunciation, and the Saints John the Baptist and Michael the Archangel.
Next to the altar, on the left, you can notice the remains of an alleged monolithic column, which belonged to a temple dedicated to the goddess Juno, known as “Genieddu”.