Surroundings
DISCOVERING SAN GIOVANNI IN PERSICETO
We would like to invite our guests to discover San Giovanni in Persiceto:
The concentric urban layout having orthogonal mesh districts dates back as far as High Middle Ages. The surronding walls were the most external part and were demolished in the XIX century at least. The building closer to the defense surrounding walls is the tower, which was built in the XIV century and rebuilt on several occasions over time. The most important entrance doors of the town are “Porta Vittoria” and “Porta Garibaldi” connected by “Corso Italia” crossing the city centre from North to South. Porta Vittoria, named also “Porta di Sopra (Up Door)”, “Riminese (From Rimini”) or “di Bologna (From Bologna) was built by the will of Giovanni Giacolo Ditti in the XVIII century. Porta Garibaldi, named also “Di sotto (Down Door)”, “San Tommaso”, “di Ferrara (From Ferrara)” was built by Filippetti in the XIX century. The “Partecipanza” palace, dating back to the XVIII century, overlooks the street connecting the two entrance doors. The central square is “Piazza del Popolo” where there is the Collegiate Church of San Giovanni Battista which was built in the XVII century and then brought to completion in the following one. One of the tympana of the elegant and restrained façade shows a low relief featuring religious allegories and realized by Bernardino Bernardi; it dates back to the first half of the XIX century. The interior is a Baroque Latin cross featuring 18th century stuccoes in the transept, on the first left-hand altar in the middle of the choir. The church sacristy houses the museum of Sacred Art displaying paintings, a collection of liturgical objects and parchment choir books. The Town Hall, The Communal Theatre, the Church of the Madonna della Cintura and the Library are other worth-visiting buildings.