Church of San Giovanni Battista – Montignano

The Church of San Giovanni Battista was built in the Middle Ages, under the spiritual guidance of the monks of Chiaravalle Abbey, while the administration was entrusted to the bishops of Senigallia.
In the second half of the 16th century, the church was restored, as noted during the visit of Bishop Pietro Ridolfi. In 1752, the church was expanded and modernized. Following the 1930 earthquake, the church was demolished and rebuilt, consecrated in 1933 by the Bishop of Senigallia Tito Maria Cucchi. On the left, in an isolated position, is the bell tower of the previous church, which remained standing: it is made up of three superimposed modules, with a bulbous spire that surmounts the bell chamber, the bells are from 1672 and 1752. The façade is in neo-Romanesque style, with a porch, arched portals and small arches along the slopes of the roof. Three radial rose windows complete the ornamentation of the facade.

The interior of the church is based on a Latin cross plan with three naves divided into four bays, of which the last one towards the presbytery is smaller. The church is illuminated by single-lancet windows placed along the walls of the side naves and by windows created under the ceiling impost. The central nave ends with a curved apse in whose wall there are three single-lancet windows with stained glass. The arches of the naves are supported by bundled pillars composed of four columns with Corinthian capitals. The three naves have a flat, coffered roof with panel decoration and supported by beams, while the apse has a smooth, undecorated semi-spherical dome vault. The main altar is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the two smaller ones to Our Lady of Good Counsel and the Holy Crucifix.

In 1969, the 1930 presbytery was completely dismantled: the new altar consists of a base covered with a wooden panel depicting the Last Supper, on the sides there are two wooden ambos carved with statues of the Four Evangelists. The tabernacle is placed in the center of the semicircular septum behind the altar and is accessed via a short staircase. The Stations of the Cross were renovated in the 1990s by the artist Lorenzo Marconi. Inside there is a precious Callido organ built in 1770 for the Collegiate Church of San Francesco di Corinaldo and purchased in 1964 by Don Pietro Sallei, parish priest of Montignano from 1953 to 2003. The feast days of the patron saint, St. John the Baptist, are deeply felt on June 28th, with a procession and concert by the St. John the Baptist Choir, St. Petronilla at the end of May, and St. Anthony the Abbot, a saint particularly attached to the countryside and animal protection.