In the medieval heart of Viterbo there is the church of Saint John Evangelist which is immediately recognized by two large buttresses that connect the facade with the opposite building. They were probably built to stem a static problem in the building and unload its weight on neighboring buildings as well.
The church dates back to the 11th-12th century and owes its name Zoccoli to the ceramic cladding that once decorated the facade and which in the local language was called 'Ciocola'. Some of these majolica decorations can be seen in the large rose window that adorns the facade, if you have a telephoto lens.
In addition to the Romanesque rose window with its lateral sculptures of eagles, representing St. John the Evangelist, in the facade there is a door with an elegant frame with floral and geometric decoration and a lunette with a fresco of the saint.
The interior is simple and the church has three naves, which end with 3 apses divided by a series of columns made with overlapping elements, and a wooden hut roof.
Although the general style of the church appears Romanesque, this is partly desired with two restorations, one in 1880 and one after the bombings of the Second World War.
Among the works of art you can admire a Gothic style polyptych of 1441 made by Francesco d'Antonio Zacchi known as Balletta, a painter from Viterbo who represented a Virgin among the saints.
On one side St. Peter and St. John the Baptist and on the other St. John the Evangelist and St. Paul.
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