Church of Santi Giovanni e Reparata - Lucca - Toscane

The visit begins with the entrance to the Romanesque basilica, through a monumental portal, the only element of the church that has remained intact since the facade was rebuilt in 1622. The interior space, used as a museum and theater for cultural events, still shows the medieval volumes, to which frescoes and sacral furniture have been added over the centuries, mainly from the 17th century and the modern period.

The adjacent baptistery, which has always been connected to the church and enriched with modern furniture and surviving frescoes, documents a development parallel to that of the church, which ended with the construction of the monumental late Trecenetic vault.
In the church one can also admire the Chapel of Saint Ignatius, a Baroque masterpiece from the end of the 17th century, designed by Domenico Martinelli, and a Roman sarcophagus from the 2nd century AD

The Archaeological Zone, which is located on the foundations of the church and the Baptistery, is one of the most important archaeological sites of the city. A route over metal footbridges crosses the structures of the old town cathedral, formerly dedicated to Santa Reparata, and the baptistery, which has always been linked to the church. The stratigraphic sequence of structures documents the evolution of Lucca from its foundation in Roman times to the Middle Ages. The oldest part is that of the remains of a late Republican domus (2nd century BC), of which part of the mosaic floor remains, still clearly visible near the baptistery.

Willem Vandenameele