Italy is home to some incredible churches, to be sure, and if you're in Tuscany, in particular, you will find lots of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque gems. However, more modern beauties are less commonly found. Among them the Church of San Giovanni Battista or the Chiesa dell’Autostrada del Sole in Limite, in the municipality of Campi Bisenzio. Although formally named after John the Baptist, the latter name is a nickname meaning “The Motorway of the Sun Church” and was given due to the building's unusual location between the Autostrada del Sole and the A11 Firenze-Mare Highway, which was actually chosen to remember labourers who lost their lives while building the motorway. While it is certainly not everyone's cup of tea, those interested in design and architecture will find it intriguing. If you're an architecture nerd that has found a luxury villa in Florence, be sure to check this unusual gem out for yourself.
Designed by Giovanni Michelucci, the architect that created the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence, the church is meant to reflect both modern and traditional church design and blend into its natural surroundings. The curvilinear elements of the building mimic the Tuscan hills that surround and the pink beige stone and grey-green copper roof work harmoniously with the tones of the landscape in the background. The church itself is on a cross floor plan (though an asymmetrical one) and is faced in stone, as churches were for hundreds of years, but also incorporates the vertical elements and forms and copper roof that adhere to more modern aesthetics and tastes. Built between 1960 and 1963, it is a fascinating structure and boasts works by artists like Marcello Avenali, Jorio Vivarelli, Dilvo Lotti, and Luigi Venturini inside.
One of the more unusual buildings in the area surrounding Florence, it is one of the most unique and fascinating in all of Tuscany.
One of the more unusual buildings in the area surrounding Florence, it is one of the most unique and fascinating in all of Tuscany.
