The church of St John of the Water - San Giovanni dell'Acqua is located in one of the most beautiful roads in Lazio region built in 1930 to connect Subiaco with Jenne. The road crosses the woods and was built by digging tunnels in the rock and it is so charming that is increasingly chosen by cyclists, motorcyclists and trekking enthusiasts.
About 6 km from Subiaco is the small church of St John built on the site of one of the 12 monasteries founded by St Benedict in the Aniene Valley. On the nearby rock wall you can observe the water flowing, which is said to be one of the miracles of St. Benedict to feed the small monastery, and which gives the church its name.
The dedication to St John the Baptist hides its most ancient origins. In fact the saint is celebrated on June 24th in correspondence with the summer solstice and often the places of worship dedicated to him had been built on previous pagan places of worship.
In this place a very ancient religious rite was practiced to treat children who had problems related to hernia and testicles.
The rite was tied to trees and a branch was opened so that a child could pass through the opening. The children were first taken in a nocturnal procession and at midnight the parents entrusted them to whoever had the task of making them pass through the opening of the branches. This rite was called 'passata' and had to be repeated three times.
Then the branch was tied and reassembled and if the opening strengthened it meant that the ritual had been effective, otherwise it had to be repeated the following day.
The day of San Giovanni is then dedicated to the rite of the 'comparanze', deeply felt throughout lower Lazio in which people celebrated their friendship by bonding through a ceremonial that also included bathing in the sacred waters.
Follow us