Parrocchia di San Giovanni Battista (Parish church of St John the Baptist)

The parish church of St John the Baptist was built in two different stages, first in 1100 and then completed in 1500.

If you stay out, you can see the façade with its seemingly smooth outer walls, diversified by three sections of exposed ashlars. A crenelated bell tower stands on the left, its battlements decorating the top of the building; and a bell gable, deprived of its bell, is visible on the far right.

As you step in, you will see that the interiors converge into a wood-covered single nave. Intrigued by the side chapels that run along the congregation’s section, you will walk on and will end up in front of the high altar of the church, above which the reredos of the Nursing Madonna stands in all its glory. Painted by Pietro Cavaro in 1518, the work was commissioned by the Lords of Villamar, whose presence is artistically documented by the family’s coat of arms. The name is associated with a specific iconography that portrays the Virgin exposing her breast as she breastfeeds the baby Jesus.

Extremely interesting is the predella, the horizontal section at the bottom, denoted by a protruding tabernacle with an extremely sweet wooden sculpture of the Nursing Madonna, sculpted by Neapolitan artist Giovanni da Nola, on top. The giant construction is framed by a heavenly riot of colours, figures and scenes, masterly outlined in Pietro Cavaro’s elegant painting style.