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The Church of St John the Baptist in Torricella in Sabina: the Parish Church Inside the Castle Tower
The Church of San Giovanni Battista in Torricella in Sabina (RI), a medieval village 604 metres above sea level in the Sabine Mountains, is the parish church dedicated to the patron saint. It has a rare distinguishing feature: the building is housed within the great medieval tower of the Brancaleone castle, and the apse coincides with the semicircular curve of a pre-existing tower. A church inside a military structure.
A Church Born as a Fortress
The village probably takes its name from the tower — Turris Celiae according to the legend of Countess Celia, Castellum Turricellae according to the Registro Farfense, where Torricella is already mentioned in 1019. Above the church, the medieval battlements are still visible. The construction of the place of worship dates to the 12th century, and is in the late Romanesque style, an integral part of the walls of the fief that belonged to the Brancaleone family, then the Cesarini and finally the Sforza Cesarini until the 19th century.
The 14th-Century Rose Window and the Hidden Frescoes
The façade, remodelled several times over the centuries, features a large stone rose window with small arches and twisted colonettes, dating to the early 14th century. Inside, there is a single nave. Restoration works carried out in the 1930s brought to light fragments of medieval frescoes on the walls of the apse-tower, with figures of saints, one with the date 1251 still legible.
What’s Inside
On the two side altars are two paintings from the early 16th century. A fine tempera panel of the Madonna and Child, probably attributed to the school of Filippo Lippi, is today held at the Soprintendenza (cultural heritage Superintendency). Also noteworthy is a processional cross in embossed silver from the late 14th century, medieval workmanship probably shaped by expert hands from Abruzzo.
