ORATORY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

ORATORY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

A little gem of  Tuscan  sacred art  is located in the historical town of Cascina,near Pisa.

Situated in the centre of Corso Matteotti and protected by a small gate, the Oratory of St. John the Baptist is a rare monument of medieval painting in the surroundings of Pisa.

The oratory was built in brick in the fourteenth century by Bartolo Palmieri, Knight of Jerusalem.

Martino di Bartolomeo undertook to paint the church of  military-monastic order of the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem.

The plant has a nave covered with twins pointed arch vaults.

The two side walls and the counter-façade  include wonderful frescoes representing   Biblical stories taken from Genesis, arranged in three rows, starting from the right wall, clockwise from top to bottom.

 For many years used  as  chapel of the monastery of nuns Carmelites , the oratory  is now closed to the public but open to visitors on request.