Parish Church of San Giovanni in San Piero
The Parish Church of San Giovanni Battista is located on the road that leads to Monte Perone; it is the main one of the 16 Romanesque churches that were built on the island of Elba between the 11th and 12th centuries. The church built in the countryside as often happened for the Parish Churches erected in that historical period, was built with robust blocks of granite, coming from the nearby quarry of San Piero. The supporting structure is still in excellent condition. The roof was supported by wooden trusses, destroyed after a fire as a result of the Turkish assault in 1553. The Parish Church, only partially repaired, continued to serve until 1837. Adjacent to the church there was a hermitage and a vineyard.
The church faces east, so that for the summer solstice, the sun, illuminating the interior, together with the frescoes and the narrow single-lancet windows, would give the Pieve its maximum splendor. Drawing depicting the Church of San Giovanni. Not far from the church we find two other monuments, the Tower of San Giovanni and the Hermitage of San Francesco.
Not far from the church we find two other monuments, the Tower of San Giovanni and the Hermitage of San Francesco.
Indications on the Pieve billboard
The Parish Church of San Giovanni Battista was built around 1150, during the Pisan dominion.
The building is mentioned in the Rationes decimarum of 1298; in 1553 it was set on fire by the Turks allied with the French against the Habsburgs and the roof was partially rebuilt in correspondence with the presbytery. The parish church was officiated until 1837. Against the southern side there was a hermitage documented since the eighteenth century.
The plan reflects the precepts of the First Council of Nicaea (325): the semicircular apse faces east (towards Jerusalem) in so that on June 21st (summer solstice) the rising sun illuminates the interior. under the bell tower and above the apse basin.
In 1343 he documented a vineyard belonging to the Pieve “…in the vinea plebis Sancti Johannis de Campo…”
How to reach the Church of San Giovanni
The Parish Church of San Giovanni is easily reachable from the road that from Sant’Ilario and San Piero leads to Monte Perone. About 3/4 km after passing these villages, we spot the Church of San Giovanni on our left, about 30 m from the road. The Tower of San Giovanni precedes it by about 300m.