San Giovanni

The church of St. John the Baptist was built on a rectangular plan with a barreled vault. As stated by the Amalfi historian Matteo Camera, it once was Praiano’s main church, as St. John was the original patron saint of the town. Its origin is around the XI or XII century, and it was built under the patronage of rich Amalfi families. The first clear evidence of its existence dates back to 1296.

Toward the middle of 1500, it was replaced by the church of San Luca, who also became patron saint of the town. Soon after, the church was closed to worship. However, in 1613, the community demanded its restoration and succeeded in reopening it. A Neapolitan-school terracotta tiled floor with geometric designs, flowers and birds was added in 1790. In 1795 a sumptuous organ with choir? built in Naples was also added. In the early 1800s the roof of the church was redone with tiles. On both side of the main altar are two wooden statues. The first that depicts St. Louis, the second, is a seventeenth-century Neapolitan school sculpture of St. John the Baptist, restored for the first time in the nineteenth century and the second in in the 80s.