Riva San Vitale Baptistery
The baptistery in Riva San Vitale dates from the 5th century. It is the oldest Christian building in Switzerland and stands in the middle of the village of Riva San Vitale at the southern end of Lake Lugano in the canton of Ticino .
construction
Exterior
The baptistery of San Giovanni with its square floor plan is covered with a monk and a nun . At a height of a few meters it turns into an octagon. A corridor intended for processions no longer exists today, only a few traces are visible on the ground. The corridor was connected to a church that stood next to the baptistery on the site of today's Chiesa San Vitale from 1759. Five acanthus-shaped console stones, on which the roof beams rest, have been preserved above the portal on the west side .
The original entrance was on the north side, in the same place as the present one. The portal on the west side is from a later time. Above it was a round brick-lined window. In its place, the medieval window was reconstructed, which had been replaced by the round one earlier. The outline of the round window was retained to document the earlier renovation.
The Carolingian apse on the east side was rebuilt twice; its current form dates from the 9th century. The remains of the old apse lie under the wooden floor of the altar
Interior
The most striking element inside is the monolithic baptismal font , in which the baptism was performed by immersion. It has a diameter of 1.9 meters and dates from around 1200. The original pool was around 60 centimeters deep and is below it. It was reached via two descending steps and had a drain made of masonry bricks, through which water drained after the baptism ceremony.
The original floor consists of black and white marble tiles arranged in rosettes and has been raised four times over the centuries.
The octagonal room has deep semicircular niches and a small apse that was added later. Romanesque frescoes from the 12th century have been preserved in the niches. To the right of the apse, the birth of Christ is depicted as well as the Annunciation to the Shepherds, Joseph's dream, above an ascension and Mary in the mandorla .
In the niche on the left the Last Judgment with Christ as judge and the symbols of the evangelists are shown, including an angel with the resurrection trombone and souls rising from the graves. In the apse there are traces of a crucifixion from a later period.
The Arzo marble baptismal font next to the northern entrance was used after baptism was no longer carried out by immersion but by sprinkling.
gallery
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left niche
right niche
Marble font
literature
- Rossana Cardani Vergani, Laura Damiani Cabrini: Riva San Vitale. The Baptistery of San Giovanni and the Church of Santa Croce ; Society for Swiss Art History, 2006; ISBN 978-3-85782-800-3
Web links
- Baptistery Riva San Vitale at ticino.ch/de/itineraries/details/Baptisterium-in-Riva-San-Vitale
- Baptistery Riva San Vitale at magic-places.ch/baptisterium-santa-croce
Individual evidence
- ↑ Baptistery Riva San Vitale on ticinotopten.ch/de/denkmaeler
Coordinates: 45 ° 54 '16.5 " N , 8 ° 58' 15.3" E ; CH1903: seven hundred and eighteen thousand nine hundred ten / 84824