The Romanesque art finds its best expression in the Santa Maria Nova church, now called St. John the Baptist, authentic medieval architectural gem. It was built in 1233 by the bishop of Matera to accommodate the Augustinian penitents of Acco.
In the fifteenth century, left the rule of St. Augustine to take that of St. Dominic, under the title of SS. Annunziata, the convent moved on the Civita hill in a new building called the "Monacelle".
The church remained in a state of neglect until the late eighteenth century, when Mons. De Los Ryos, transferring a parish suppressed in Sasso Barisano, reopened it for worship under the title of St. John Battista.
The interior shows a Greek plan with three naves, apse, quatrefoil columns, arches, vaulted ceilings and ornate women's gallery. Notable are the Classical and Corinthian style capitals decorated with floral, vegetal and figured patterns on two orders.
The church, renowned for its typically Syrian architecture and for its history, can be considered a national monument among the most interesting of Southern Italy.
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