Pieve di San Giovanni Battista a Pernina and Surrounding Views

Saint John the Baptist (San Giovanni Battista), to whom this church was dedicated, is - like Saint Joseph - a man on the threshold from the Old to the New Testament. His parents are Zacharias and Elisabeth. After the announcement of God's incarnation, the Mother of God visits her relative Elisabeth, who will give birth to a son in her old age, John the Baptist. He is half a year older than Jesus and is considered his forerunner/pioneer. He lives in the desert, preaches repentance from sins to the Jewish population and baptizes them in the Jordan. Jesus also comes there to be baptized, and is filled with the Holy Spirit who descends on him from heaven.
The feast day of San Giovanni Battista in the saints' calendar is on June 24th, exactly half a year before 'Holy Eve'.

Old, closed church with a panoramic view of the Siena Valley and Siena.

Romanesque church, first mentioned in 1078. From Pernina we continue across the meadow past the small cemetery (on the decay), the trail sign to Romitorio overlooking the Villa Cetinale, formerly owned by the Pope family Chigi, Alexander VII.