One of the oldest Christian settlements in the Western world
A small gem dating back to the times of the early Christians, the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Fonte is an invaluable place of transition and spiritual rebirth.
The History of the Baptistry
Built on the walls of a pre-existing pagan construction, the Baptistry of San Giovanni in Fonte is one of the oldest in the Western world. Destroyed in the VI century, most likely during the Greek-Gothic war, it was rebuilt in the XII century and named after St. John the Baptist.
In 1903, an inscription was found in an opening of the river Fonti, with only a fragment in the bottom right remaining, bearing the following engraving: (F)ILIAE LE.../PATER. At a later date, in 1928, following the collapse of a wall on the western side of the baptistry, another inscription was found engraved on the jamb of a door, probably from a pagan tomb in the place. The tomb, dating back to imperial times, bore the inscription “D(is) M(anibus)/ MARC/ELLIN/O FILIO /PARENT(es) / FECER(unt)”.
The frescoes found and taken to the Charterhouse in Padula appear to date from between the end of the X century and the start of the eleventh, a period during which the baptistery was partially abandoned. In 1077, the Norman count of Marsico, Rinaldo Malaconvenienza, donated the San Giovanni in Fonti church to the Benedictine monks of Venosa. During the XIX century, most of the structures were abandoned due to rising water. The restoration work from 1985-1987 brought to light the original structure which had also used Roman finds, recovered from a villa dating back to the imperial era. On 4 August 2019, the baptistry was transformed into a leg of the 26 Ecological Bike Ride organised by the Bike in Tour.
Heritage
The baptistry, built in clay still visible on the northern and eastern walls, has a quadrangular structure founded on the walls with round arches, which most likely originally held up a cupola.
At the centre of the structure is a basin with water from a stream underneath the building itself, that was used to immerse devotees during their baptism.
Directly to the left is an altar which was raised over time to prevent the water flooding it.
There is also a fresco in the baptistry depicting saints: indeed the four apostles were painted on one of the apsal chapel walls, probably positioned to the sides of the figure of Christ, and now preserved in the Charterhouse of Santo Stefano in Calabria.
According to experts, these portrayals replicate those found in the oldest baptistries. In the apse, the presence of remains of figures on thrones and reddish wavy sweeping bands, with the remains of a halo with cross, leads us to believe that the scene perhaps represented the Universal Judgement.
