| It is said that around the year 927, people from Greece and Taranto who escapedfrom the latter when it was invaded by the Saracens, took shelter on the hill where Martina Franca would eventually being erected. It was thanks to this population that the Greek cult spread in the emerging town of Martina between the 10th and the 14th century; it is not by chance that in the old hamlet there are two churches which stand out for their appellative "of the Greeks", precisely San Giovanni dei Greci (San Giovanni of the Greeks) and San Pietro dei Greci (San Pietro of the Greeks).
The church of San Giovanni dei Greci is located in the historic centre of Martina, and presumably its structure dates back to the 14th century. It was a very poor church indeed; its first priests survived thanks to the worshippers’ handouts, which also took care of buying the oil for the lamps. The brotherhood of the Beata Vergine Assunta was established at the behest of the Jesuits in 1628; the upper floor of the church, which then became the oratory, was built at the congregation’s expense; at the same time the small, lateral vestry was also added.
The church has basically kept its original, internal rectangular plan structure, but it has endured a massive refurbishment, tending to Baroque, especially on the façade, following the raising of the brotherhood’s oratory on the upper floor.
Following the erection of the upper floor, the façade was rebuilt during the 17th century, and has some Baroque references, just like the curvilinear cornice with two torches and the introduction of the belltower in the centre. The upper part of the façade has three windows (one of which is blind), framed by fanciful cartouches. The entrance portal has a single lintel, slightly more jutting compared to the rest of the building.
In the interior, noteworthy are a wooden choir, inserted at half height of the right wall, and the stone, 18th century high altar with a canvass of the santo Battista. The 18th century statue of the Assunta, realized by Leonardo Greco, a sculptor from Ostuni, is preserved on a lateral side.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the church was consecrated to the cult of the Cuore di Gesù, and this fact explains the presence of the canvass on the left wall. |