Piazza San Giovanni, 10051 Avigliana
The Church of San Giovanni, located near the central Piazza Conte Rosso, was erected as a parish church in 1324, replacing the Church of San Pietro. The Gothic stone portal is surmounted by a frescoed lunette with the Virgin Enthroned with Child by Enrico Reffo from 1895, the year of the facade's restoration. The atrium preserves the fresco of the Madonna with Child among Saints Christopher, John the Baptist, and Anthony the Abbot, attributed to the anonymous follower of Giacomo Jaquerio known as the Master of San Vito in Piossasco, and a series of scenes attributed to the Serra family of Pinerolo. Inside, numerous paintings are notable: the panel of Saint Ursula by Gerolamo Giovenone, the Madonna of Mercy or Saints Crispin and Crispinian by Defendente Ferrari, as well as the triptych of Saint Jerome, the Nativity polyptych (1511), and the Madonna del Consorzio triptych. Also of Defendente's style are the panels displayed in the presbytery (Saints Lucia and Nicholas, Saints Sebastian and Rocco, Saint Anthony, Saint Christopher). The wooden pulpit dates back to the sixteenth century. Among the Baroque furnishings, the painting depicting the Coronation of the Virgin with the Blessed Cherubino Testa and Saint Catherine of Alexandria by the school of Savigliano stands out.
