San Giovanni in Canale is a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

-style

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located on Via Croce #26 in central

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

, formerly associated with a Dominican monastery.

History

The Dominican order, newly founded in 2016, arrived in Piacenza in 1220 and patronage soon found them a suitable site next to the Rio Beverora (an Ancient Roman canal that flowed into the

Po River The Po ( , ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy, starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is , or if the Maira (river), Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. The headwaters of the Po are forme ...

, that allowed them to establish a monastery and a church. They dedicated the church to St John the Baptist. This church was called “in canale” to distinguish it from a similarly dedicated temple in town. With the enlargement of the San Giovanni in Canale, a nearby small church belonging to the Templars (''Santa Maria del Tempio'') was converted into an oratory attached to San Giovanni. This Dominican complex once housed the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

tribunal. The structure, including the facade were rebuilt in 1522 in a Gothic style, with a large rose window. The church was suppressed by the French in 1797. The interior has 14th century tombs of the

Scotti family The Scotti is an aristocratic family centered around Piacenza in Northern Italy. The family is also known as also known as ''Douglas Scotti'' for claiming descendancy from the Scottish Clan Douglas. History Legne holds that a knight from the Dou ...

. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the interior was decorated in

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style with stucco and gilding. The ''Chapel of the Rosary'', designed by the early 19th century by Antonio Tomba, was decorated in the neoclassical style with large canvases by

Gaspare Landi Gaspare Landi (6 January 1756 – 28 February 1830) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassic period, active in Rome and his native city of Piacenza. Biography Landi is said to have been a fun-loving youth, but in 1781 he procured a subsidy to ...

(''Road to Calvary'') and

Vincenzo Camuccini Vincenzo Camuccini (22 February 1771 – 2 September 1844) was an Italian Neoclassicism, Neoclassical painter. He was considered the premier academic painter of his time in Rome. Biography Early life and education Camuccini was born in Rome, ...

(''Presentation at the Temple''). An inventory in 1842, notes the ''Chapel of St Catherine'' has the funereal monument of Orazio Scotti, marchese di Montalbo, who was an early patron of the painter

Giovanni Lanfranco Giovanni Lanfranco (26 January 1582 – 30 November 1647) was an Italian Baroque painter. Biography Giovanni Gaspare Lanfranco was born in Parma, the third son of Stefano and Cornelia Lanfranchi, and was placed as a page in the household of Coun ...

. The bust of Scotti was sculpted by

Alessandro Algardi Alessandro Algardi (July 31, 1598 – June 10, 1654) was an Italian high-Baroque sculptor active almost exclusively in Rome. In the latter decades of his life, he was, along with Francesco Borromini and Pietro da Cortona, one of the major rivals ...

. Small canvases were painted by Roberto da Longe and the studio of ''il Malosso'' The next chapel is dedicated to San Vincenzo Ferrari, named co-patron of Piacenza in 1736; the altarpiece depicts a miracle by this saint of performing a resurrection, painted by

Giuseppe Marchesi Giuseppe Marchesi (1699–1771) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Bologna. He was also known as ''il Sansone'' for his herculean build. Biography Giuseppe Marchesi first trained under the Bolognese painter Aureliano ...

. The next altarpiece depicts ''St Peter Martyr'' painted by Paolo Borroni. This painter also completed the altarpiece of ''St Dominic''. The choir and apse has frescoes painted by Francesco Natali (son of Giovanbattista and

Sebastiano Galeotti Sebastiano Galeotti (1656–1746) was a peripatetic Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active in Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, w ...

. In the choir is a small canvas painted by Gervaso Gatti (''il Soiaro''), nephew of

Bernardino Gatti Bernardino Gatti (c.1495 – 22 February 1576) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Parma and Cremona. He is also commonly called il Sojaro. He was born in or near Pavia or Cremona. His early apprenticeship is unclear, ...

, depicting the ''Circumcision of Jesus''. The lunette of the chapel found underneath the bell-tower was decorated by Benedetto Marini, who depicted the ''Adoration of the Magi''.Nuovissima guida della città di Piacenza con alquanti cenni topografici, statistici, e storici
by Tipografia Domenico Tagliaferri, Piazza de' Cavalli, #55, Piacenza (1842); Page 97-101.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giovanni in Canale, Piacenza Roman Catholic churches in Piacenza 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Gothic architecture in Lombardy