The Ancient Parish Church of San Giovanni in Monte stands on one of the highest points of the Berici Hills, surrounded by woods but accessible via a narrow road.
Some studies suggest its establishment as a church by the Benedictine monks, who were present in Barbarano since 975; however, it is certain that the chapel and the conventual part were enlarged by the Carmelite friars, who took possession of the complex in 1459 until the end of the 1600s. Abandoned for several decades, the church was restored with work that began in 1744 and was reopened in 1784.
It remained a parish church until 1954, when it was ceded to the 32nd Army Transmissions Regiment of the Italian Army: since then, the site has been closed to the public.
Falling once again into serious neglect, the church was restored with the intervention of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, whose work lasted almost seven years, and in 2004 there was an official inauguration organized by Italia Nostra for the Middle and Lower Vicentine area with a concert.
Inside, despite lacking some of its decorations, the main altar and the two side altars are preserved. An interesting discovery during the restoration work was a series of 15th- and 16th-century frescoes that adorn the chapel of the Madonna del Rosario.
The frescoes, still to be studied but attributed to local craftsmen, had been covered with white plaster, likely during the 18th-century intervention, and hidden from the eyes of the faithful until the last restoration in the 2000s.
Some of the sacred furnishings from the old Parish Church are now found in the new one: an interesting altarpiece depicting the Baptism of Christ, with uncertain attribution to Maganza or Palma il Giovane; an altarpiece by an unknown artist depicting some saints; a beautiful stone statuette of St. John the Baptist and the precious vestment with silver threads that covered the wooden mannequin, now destroyed, of the Madonna del Rosario, placed in the niche of the chapel of the ancient parish church.
The annual calendar for visits to the old Parish Church is managed by the association Italia Nostra for the Middle and Lower Vicentine area, to which one must turn to access the site.
