The oldest...

Approximately 2500 years ago; the Romans built a baptistry in the place now called Riva San Vitale. The builders used local stone laid in a square shape at the foundation eventually progressing to an octagon as the building went higher. Today this buidling stands as the oldest Christian monument still in existance in Switzerland.

The building contains a monolithic baptismnal font carved out of a single block of store and was installed about 800 years ago. It is just over 6 feet across and it sits smack dab in the middle of the small building. Look underneath and you can see an octagonal immersion font set into the ground.

Part of the original floor - black and white marble set in a rosette pattern - is still there. The literature says that the floor has been raised at least four times since the baptistry was originally built. There are also several frescos still in the building. Two were removed to the adjacent parish church, but others have been partially restored in place. A small apse currently contains a modern alter. Peer down the wall to the left or right of the alter and you will be rewarded by the sight of the original foundation wall.

All this history is located directly across the street from us. The church bells wake us up at 7am (and every hour on the hour since we've been here). Since I have been here I am learning that despite the history, there are those that do not always support preserving these old things from the past. The main point seems to be if we preserve the very old at the expense of the new, who is to say that in five hundred years we will not wish that we had preserved something that we thought was 'throw away' just because it was a more modern building.

(images courtesy of the world wide interweb)