Church of San Giovanni Battista, Mogno

On April 25, 1986, at 7.15 in the morning, an avalanche breaks down in Mogno in the Maggia Valley and destroys the small church of St. John the Baptist from the 17th century. A committee for the reconstruction of the church is convened immediately and the architect Mario Botta is given the corresponding task. The project and its realization are accompanied by numerous polemics. Nevertheless, architect Botta was able to create one of his most important works here.
Source: ticinotopten.ch/de/denkmaeler/kirche-mogno-botta

An exceptional, elliptical building with a sloping roof in an equally exceptional location.
The hamlet of Mogno belongs to the highest town in the Lavizzara valley (1280 m asl), Fusio. And there is a real attraction there. The Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista, a building by Mario Bottas.

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