The Church of San Giovanni Battista (St John the Baptist), the parish church of Turano, is located in the main hamlet of the municipality of Valvestino, in the province of Brescia. It is part of the diocese of Brescia and the Alto Garda pastoral area.

Images: Cheleo Multimedia

The church stands on an esplanade next to the cemetery, once the only one in the valley; it was reached by a road known as the “street of the dead”, which connected it to the highest part of the Vestino valley. The sacred building stands just downstream from the town of Turano, in an isolated position: the large grassy churchyard, known as the “Prato della Pica” (“Pica Meadow”), was where the counts of Lodrone, lords of the valley, pronounced or read out their sentences. The Valley Council also met here to deliberate and administer justice.

It is considered the oldest church in Valvestino and the earliest record of it dates back to the early Middle Ages, in the will of Bishop Nokterio of Verona dated 15 November, 928, where it is mentioned as “Ecclesia Sanctae Mariae de Turano”. It was later mentioned in a papal bull of 1186.

A new church was built between the 11th and 13th centuries, later rebuilt in the 16th century, and renovated in the 18th century.

The marble high altar was built in 1720, financed by Count Carlo Ferdinando di Lodrone, canon of Trento Cathedral, and it bears his coat of arms with the silver lion rampant, its tail entwined in a love knot, on a red field. In the sacristy, there is a rough portrait of Sebastiano Paride di Lodrone, cavalry commander and courtier at the court of King Philip II of Spain. He ended his days wearing the rough wool of the Capuchin Order in 1611 in Trento under the name of Father Giovanni Francesco da Salò, after doing good for the Valley and even more for Salò, his dearly beloved adopted homeland. The Counts of Lodrone had the privilege of ‘jus patronatus’ i.e. the right to ‘submit’ the name of the desired rector to the Tridentine bishop as the community’s priest.

Originally a branch of the church of Tignale, the church of Turano remained part of the diocese of Trento in 1785, while the parish church of Tignale passed to the diocese of Brescia; the rector of the Valley became the parish priest of the whole of Valvestino, while the other priests responsible for the care of the various hamlets were given the title of curate. In 1786, it became a rectory and parish, but never acquired the status of Pieve, even though the title was used locally.
On 6 August, 1964, the parish of Turano, along with those of Armo, Bollone, and Magasa, passed from the archdiocese of Trento to that of Brescia. Bishop Luigi Morstabilini made his first pastoral visit on 25 May, 1972. On 14 April, 1989, the church became part of the Alto Garda pastoral area.

It was restored and a wooden pulpit and altar facing the main body of the church were added in front of the high altar between 1971 and 1975, thanks to the sensitivity and work of Don Luigi Festi, parish priest of Magasa and Armo.