San Giovanni Battista is the parish church of Racconigi and is regarded as the town's duomo; it faces the square of the same name. The first church on this site dates from the thirteenth century and served as a pieve. In the early eighteenth century, with the population suddenly grown, it had become too small: at the initiative of the parish priest G. M. Cambiano it was decided to rebuild from the foundations, and the design went to Francesco Gallo of Mondovì, who had already signed a number of churches in the Cuneo area.
What to see
The project was grand and needed a great deal of money. Despite the efforts of the parishioners, the work could only start thanks to the bequest of the nobleman Angelo Spada, who gave 1500 lire of the time in exchange for the privilege of being buried in the new church. Building took eleven years, from 1719 to 1730, and the solemn consecration came in 1770 at the hands of monsignor Pochettino, bishop of Ivrea and a native of Racconigi.
Visiting
The plan is rectangular but tends towards a Greek cross; the deep apse, however, creates the illusion of an inverted Latin cross. It was a solution born of necessity: the narrow site had to be reconciled with the wish for a monumental building, and indeed nothing had to be demolished to make room, apart from the old church and the cemetery beside it. There is a single nave, with two major chapels at transept level and four minor ones.
Our editors' tip
Go in and look up: the barrel vault, reinforced by arches, culminates in an octagonal dome more than thirty metres above the floor. The late baroque effect is played entirely on light and on false architecture in trompe-l'oeil; the decoration and frescoes are by Pietro Antonio Pozzo, of 1759, and by the Barelli brothers of Bra.