Canonica di San Giovanni, Varna

A church of late Romanesque layout with a single nave.

A few kilometers from Gambassi, in the village of Varna, is the Rectory of San Giovanni.

Documents testify to its existence as early as 1230 when it was among the places damaged by the Volterra people during a military campaign against San Gimignano, which by that time had already extended its control over the Gambassi territory.

In 1577 the oratory of the Company of the Blessed Sacrament was built next to it, where the high altar was later moved. In 1705 the facade underwent some changes and the perimeter walls were raised. In 1785 St. John’s rectory became a baptismal parish. Inside is housed a copy of the La Madonna col bambino e Santi of Andrea del Sarto.