San Giovanni Battista, Highway A11

Campi Bisenzio, Italy

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

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Giovanni Michelucci's Church of San Giovanni Battista, built between 1960 and 1963 in Campi Bisenzio near Florence, stands as a striking example of modern religious architecture situated within a motorway rest area along the A11 highway. Known colloquially as the Church of the Freeway of the Sun, the structure synthesizes traditional and contemporary design through its cruciform floor plan and stone facing—evoking classical church geometry—while its tent-like vertical forms and oxidized copper roof embody modernist aesthetics. At 27.5 meters high, the building features an asymmetrical, sinuously curved interior that creates a sense of fluid space, constructed from stone and concrete walls, with copper roofing burnished blonde inside and weathered green outside. The interior incorporates marble, glass, and bronze elements alongside decorative works by Marcello Avenali, Jorio Vivarelli, Dilvo Lotti, and Luigi Venturini. Built as a memorial to workers who died during freeway construction and designed to serve as a "parish for the tourists," the church reflects both the era's growing automobile culture and the progressive religious ideas of the Second Vatican Council.