Il Battistero di San Giovanni a Riva San Vitale

The Baptistery of Riva San Vitale is the oldest intact Christian building in Switzerland. In 2018, European Year of the Cultural Heritage, the Academy of Architecture, in the course “Methods and Techniques of Architectural Restoration”, began a new research project by cross-referencing the archival documents with information derived from the site survey to analyse the complex’s history and material qualities with subsequent stratifications and explore its “authenticity”.
The publication brings together a number of critical essays and a series of “thematic maps” comparing the material data with the documentary data, as well as the results of the restoration work conducted on the internal decorative apparatus by the course in “Conservation and Restoration” of the Scuola Universitaria Professionale of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI). This documentation is a highly complex work of synthesis and at the same time a flexible and detailed instrument for scholars, professionals and officials in charge of its protection. 
An extensive catalogue of plates and the complete transcription, edited by Eleonora Alberti, of the Giornale di cantiere edited by Guido Borella accompany the publication.
Texts by: Sergio Bettini, Marco Di Nallo, Paola Iazurlo, Vladimir Ivanovici, Giacinta Jean, Daniela Murphy, Irene Quadri.