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Varenna

San Giovanni Battista

Varenna's eleventh-century mother church on the San Giorgio square, with bare stone walls and sixteenth-century frescoes.

Visit duration
10–20 min
Booking
Not required
Area
Centro Lago
The church's semicircular stone apse and the small bell gable, among the houses of the square.Misasar · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • VILDA ESPINOSA · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • VILDA ESPINOSA · CC BY-SA 4.0

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The church's semicircular stone apse and the small bell gable, among the houses of the square.

Misasar · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why go

San Giovanni Battista, one of the oldest churches on the Lario, is Varenna's mother church.

It dates from the eleventh century, and inside it keeps sixteenth-century frescoes on the apse and the triumphal arch. On the south wall you can make out three saints: Christopher carrying the Christ child, George on horseback and John the Baptist. The north wall has a large Epiphany. There is also an altarpiece triptych with the Virgin and Child between Saint George and Saint Martin the bishop. The Romanesque bell tower faces the lake, as was the custom in early times; the bells are those of 1730, given by the Serponti family.

  • An eleventh-century church, a short walk from the landing stage.
  • The sixteenth-century frescoes in a single nave.

Highlights

  • The frescoes of the apse and the triumphal arch
  • The large Epiphany on the north wall
  • The Romanesque bell tower facing the lake

Getting there

  • On Piazza San Giorgio, opposite the church of San Giorgio, a few minutes' walk from the landing stage and the station.

On the map

Explore the lake
VarennaSan Giovanni Battista

© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL

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Sources and credits

Verified at source1 Oct 2026Varenna Turismoopens in a new tab

Sources and credits

Verified at source1 Oct 2026Varenna Turismoopens in a new tab