The basilica of San Giovanni Battista is one of the main churches of Busto Arsizio, dedicated to one of the city's patron saints, and one of the most important Baroque works in the province of Varese. It stands on the remains of a small Lombard chapel about eight metres wide and has been a minor basilica since 1948.
What to see
The design is by Francesco Maria Richini: the first stone was laid on 26 May 1609, the first service was celebrated in 1614, with the works unfinished, on the patronal feast, and the dome was completed in 1635, twenty-six years after the site opened. The façade has a lower order of paired Ionic pilasters and a porch with an arched pediment; the copper and bronze doors, with bas-reliefs of the life of the Baptist, are by Enrico Astorri (1908). The upper part came only between 1699 and 1701, with Domenico Valmagini: a large oval window, a double-curved broken pediment, statues of Saint Peter, Saint Paul and four prophets, and at the top that of the Baptist. The square-based bell tower in exposed masonry is the oldest part: it was built between 1400 and 1418, out of devotion in a period of plague but also as a watchtower, partly paid for by the Comune.
The interior has three aisles, separated by Ionic piers and columns; under the arches hang large canvases of the life of the Baptist, painted between the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century by unknown artists. Between 1757 and 1765 Biagio Bellotti, an artist from Busto Arsizio, canon of the basilica and its organist, frescoed the apsidal area: the Glory of Saint Sabinus on the vault of the presbytery, Paradise in the apse basin, the Baptism of Jesus on the apse wall. There are six side chapels; in the chapel of the Crucifix is the Dead Christ Adored by Saint Dominic, painted in 1623 by Daniele Crespi, while the chapel of the Relics holds wooden reliquaries and a Madonna and Child by Bernardino Lanino.
Visiting
It stands in Busto Arsizio, not far from the church of San Michele Arcangelo. Next to it is the baptistery of San Filippo Neri, designed by Bellotti and built between 1744 and 1751; the sources say it also hosts exhibitions. Opening hours and visiting arrangements do not appear in the sources consulted and should be checked with the parish.
Our editors' tip
On the right flank, seen from via Milano, look for the «mortorio»: a small temple built between 1689 and 1692 to remind passers-by of the mystery of death, with skulls still on display. The paintings that decorated its outside, showing the ages of man, were removed and taken to the church of San Gregorio Magno in Camposanto.
