Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista
Striped Gothic church of marble and serpentine, crowned by a carved marble rose window.
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About this audio guide
This guide to Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista in Cinque Terre follows two little-known stonecutters, Matteo and Pietro da Campiglio, who spiraled eighteen hand-cut marble columns around a single vaulting point above the nave. You'll hear how the striped facade was fitted together from marble quarried near Carrara and serpentine hauled down the coast from Portovenere, with no trucks or cranes, and how construction dragged across two or three generations of the same trade. Look for the inscribed column near the doorway, dated to the year the church was finished.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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