The Mother Church of San Giovanni Battista
Descrizione
The Mother Church of San Giovanni Battista, overlooking Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, is the religious and monumental heart of Santa Croce Camerina. Built in the early 1600s on a medieval structure, it was extensively renovated between 1797 and 1885 based on designs by architect Teodoro Gigante, with master builders Giuseppe Mazzarella, Giovanni Vaccaro, and Dionisio Bocchieri. The building, 45 meters long, features a Latin cross plan with three naves, a central dome, transept, and side chapels. Inside are valuable artistic works: a copy of Martin Faber’s Madonna of Loreto, a wooden statue of Saint Joseph, the city’s patron saint, and the funerary monument commissioned by the Celestri family in 1604. The frescoes of the four Evangelists in the dome, painted in 1986 by local artist Giovanni Aquila, further enrich the sacred space. Today, the church is the center of major religious celebrations, including the Feast of Saint Joseph, maintaining strong ties with the local community.
