St. John the Baptist Church, Ancona

St. John the Baptist Church is a church in Ancona, located in the district of Capodimonte, of which it is the parish seat.

Formerly dedicated to St. Claudius, it took its present title in the 16th century after the demolition of the ancient abbey of St. John in Pennocchiara for the construction of the present Citadel and the adjoining entrenched camp.

It retains of the early building the Romanesque stone facade with portal and oculus, and the medieval bell tower remodeled after World War II, while the interior of the building owes its present appearance to local architect Lorenzo Daretti, who remodeled it in Baroque style in the period between 1779 and 1782.

On April 25, 1884, Cardinal Achille Manara, archbishop of Ancona, granted the parish to the Friars Minor of Marche.

It was severely damaged during World War II bombings.

In 1950 architect Eusebio Petetti designed the restoration of the building, bringing to light the Romanesque elements concealed by Lorenzo Daretti's eighteenth-century remodeling. The direction of the work was entrusted to engineer Angelucci, who unfortunately was not faithful to the project handed to him for implementation; this led to vibrant protests and a series of newspaper articles.

The church has kept, since January 30, 1943, the body of Blessed Gabriele Ferretti, coming from the suppressed church of San Francesco ad Alto, entrusted to the custody of those same Friars Minor among whom Blessed Ferretti performed all his priestly service.