Prepositurale Church of San Giovanni Battista.

Description: A church dedicated to this saint existed already before the foundation of the Castle of Riolo (1388) and is remembered for the first time in a document by Pope Gregory VII in 1187, where it is marked as one of the churches that depended on the Abbey of San Pietro in Sala. At the beginning of the 15^th century the bishop of Imola Hondedei united the parish church to the chaplaincy of S. Antonio Abate in S. Maria in Regola of Imola, a union that was revoked in 1436.

As early as 1425 the idea of building a new church inside the Castle already came about on the initiative of some private people of the Confraternity. Works began in 1428 and we know that even though the church was not yet completed, the following year it was open to worship. What is uncertain is the date in which the temple was blessed (probably around 1434). In 1496 the church was completely rebuilt in larger sizes on the land of the Abbey of San Pietro in Sala. This new building was formally consecrated on October 26^th 1496 by Bishop Simone Bonadies. We know little of the altars in the church from the early times:  the altar of San Antonio Abate (1476), of the Madonna and S. Domenico (1485) and of the Cavina family (painted in 1522). Some of the precious objects include a silver tabernacle.

In the second half of the 16^th century the church was large and spacious with the choir stalls behind the main altar. It had a red coloured façade and above the door was the image of the patron saint. Above the main altar was a painting depicting the Blessed Virgin with S. Caterina a S. Giovanni Battista, restored in 1599 and redone in larger sizes in 1600 by the Flemish painter Ernest Van Schaichis with the image of the Madonna, S. Giovanni Battista and S. Silvestro. Two paintings depicting S. Sebastiano and S. Rocco painted in 1630 were placed at the sides of the main altar. In 1573 mentioned in the chapels to the right of the main altar, are the altars of the Pasini family (dedicated to the Nativity of the Madonna with a frescoed vault), of the Confraternity of the Rosary (rebuilt in a larger size in 1840-42 with a painting depicting the Virgin and Ss. Giovanni and Domenico), of S. Rocco, of S. Ambrogio and of S. Lorenzo. On the opposite side the altars of S. Lucia of the Grisoli family, a third unadorned altar and a fourth altar without name (but with paintings depicting the Virgin, Giacomo and S. Antonio). In 1599 the altar of S. Croce disappeared with a painting representing the Deposition of Our Lord from the Cross and S. Pietro Martyr. In the summary of the Marelli visit, other seven altars disappeared, some of which dedicated to new saints (S. Orsola, S. Caterina and S. Carlo Borromeo). The façade and the church vault were rebuilt in 1713 by Giulio Mazzolani.

The church also had a modest sized bell tower. The church itself was of too modest a size (18.70 X 6.88m) for the population of Riolo and it was therefore decided to rebuild it in the current location of V. Matteotti. In the new Prepositurale Church of S. Giovanni Battista consecrated in 1960 are important works such as the already mentioned altarpiece of Flemish painter Ernest Van Schaichis, transferred from the old church in a precious 1500’s piece and ceramic works by modern artists such as Sassi and Biancini. Since April 1991 a large 10 x 10 m ceramic panel has been placed in the apse made up of 900 majolica tiles, each of 33×33 cm made by the painter of Riolo Sante Ghinassi in 1985-89. This is one of the largest works of its kind in the world and depicts the Crucifixion with scenes of the life of Jesus and the church on the sides. On the bottom right we can see persons of the church of our times and others who were dear to the artist: Mons. Pellegrino Ronchi (of Riolo), Bishop of Città di Castello, card. Aurelio Sabbatani (of Imola), Pope Giovanni II, Mons. Vincenzo Tarlombani, provost emeritus of Riolo Terme, mother Enrica, the artist’s sister and mother general of the Nuns of the S. Cuore of Imola, Sig.ra Delelma, the artist’s wife, to whom the work is in memory of and finally the artist himself.