The church of San Giovanni Battista at Rocca San Zenone

The church of San Giovanni Battista of Rocca San Zenone, stands within the medieval walls of this village, which was built as a fortified castle to defend the border of the territory of Terni. The construction of the religious building, originally Romanesque, dates back to the twelfth century while the walls-to which the forepart of the current facade added in the seventeenth century is joined- date from the thirteenth century. With the renovation works carried out  in the seventeenth century, the four communicating chapels with cross vaults on the left side were also built, which looks like a nave, significantly transforming the original structure. The interior is accessed from the large travertine portal on the front made of exposed stone. The artistic importance of the church is linked above all to the frescoes that embellish the right wall of the nave,which is considered a significant testament to painting from the first half of the fifteenth century by artists from southern Umbria, who belonged to the circle of Bartolomeo da Miranda and the Maestro of Narni. Numerous figures of Saints, arranged on two registers, flank the recurring image of the Madonna and Child. Made as ex voto, these valuable works have regained their original beauty with a recent restoration work, with which superimposed layers of paintings, evidence  of different stages of the church decoration, have come to light. The elegant travertine high altar from 1536 has also been restored.