San Juan Bautista Church

The Church of San Juan Bautista is a parish church in Pedraza, in the province of Segovia, located in the Plaza Mayor of the historic center of the town. It is one of the most representative temples of the local religious heritage and the only one of the ancient temples of Pedraza that remains open for worship. The heritage file identifies it as a parish church, although in some tourist inventories it appears generically as a church or hermitage. Its origin is Romanesque and the construction is located between the XII and XIII centuries; other sources extend its foundation to the XI century, although the most reiterated dating in patrimonial repertoires is the Romanesque medieval one. Of the primitive building the tower and the apse, visible from the outside, are especially conserved, while the interior presents later reforms that have altered its original aspect. The temple shows a strong mixture of styles due to the numerous historical transformations, with outstanding reforms in the Baroque period and a later interior reconfiguration. The available documentation cites a floor plan with three naves and the preservation of a Romanesque baptismal font from the 13th century as a notable piece of liturgical furnishings. In the context of Pedraza, a medieval town declared a Monumental Site, the church is part of the historic landscape of the Plaza Mayor and retains an active religious role, as well as a heritage role. Its value lies both in the remaining Romanesque masonry and in the historical reading of the reforms that reflect the evolution of the temple over the centuries.