Saturday, after leaving the cemetery, we drove over to San Giovanni in Venere near the town of Fossacesia, overlooking the Adriatic.
According to tradition, the original building dates back to the Sixth Century when a small oratory dedicated to Saint John the Baptist was built over a pagan temple dedicated to Venus. In 847 that building was damaged in an earthquake.
In 1015, Trasmondo, the Count of Chieti, sponsored a reconstruction of the church and the building of a Benedictine monastery made up of 2 cloisters, a school and a library.
There were later stylistic transformations made to the church, although the original layout was maintained. I won’t bore you with the long art history lesson though (think Cistercian).
Here are some of the pictures I took, it was late in the day, as you can see from the lights in the picture below
The main entrance
sculptures around the main entrance
The cloister
inside
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No art history lesson? Believe me, I would not be bored. The sculptures on the facade look really interesting. I’d love to get a closer look at them. I love 11th and 12th century Italian architecture, but I only studied examples from the usual places- Lombardy, Tuscany, Rome, Puglia and Sicily. I find it so interesting to see buildings from other regions and see how they relate to the styles and trends from the places I’m more familiar with. Great photos!
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Thanks KC. I’m not an art history expert although I did study some in college and it does interest me quite a bit. I’m often amazed by how much some of the structures resemble others and then, unexpectedly, I’ll run across something that’s totally different. I keep saying I need to delve into it more.
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[...] About a month or so ago we took a trip to San Giovanni in Venere which is located a short distance from here near the town of Fossacesia. [...]