herr2ck: Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church

March 2026.

Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church, or Chiesa Italiana di San Giovanni Battista as it is known in Italian, is the “mother church” of Italian Village. Both an important site for Catholics to worship and a cultural center for Italian immigrants in the neighborhood, it is a rather unconventional work of Gothic Revival architecture.

St. John’s is located at 168 East Lincoln Street in the Italian Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by Cedar Alley to the north, Lincoln Street and houses to the south, Wonder Bread Lofts to the east, and Hamlet Street to the west.

History

Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church was founded in 1896 to serve the growing Italian immigrant population of Italian Village. Prior to 1870, what is now Italian Village was populated by Irish immigrants, though they moved elsewhere after becoming more successful. Italian immigrants began to arrive in earnest in the 1890s, drawn by manufacturing jobs available at the Jeffrey Manufacturing Co. and other local factories. In January 1896, Italian priest Fr. Alexander Cestelli was hired at Pontifical College Josephinium, and he became interested in ministering to the Italian immigrant population in Columbus. Prior to the completion of their own church building, the congregation worshiped in the baptistery of St. Joseph Cathedral downtown. Since that church’s baptistery has a prominent stained-glass window featuring the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, it is likely how St. John’s congregation got its name.

Panorama of the parish outside of the church. (St. John’s website)

At first, the newly founded church planned to purchase an existing building and renovate it, but they instead decided to build their own church. Fr. Cestelli purchased the current site of St. John’s in 1897 for $4,700, and its construction began in spring 1898, with its cornerstone laid by the bishop on March 15. The Gothic Revival church was designed by Columbus architect David Riebel at a cost of $12,000, with a buff brick exterior and stone accents made by the Columbus Brick & Terra Cotta Co. A major benefactor was John Marzetti, an Italian businessman who may have been related to Teresa Marzetti (you’ve probably heard of Marzetti salad dressings, which she founded). The church was dedicated on September 18, 1898. Its convent immediately east of the church building was completed in 1899. Unusually, St. John’s does not have a school, which is because it was established as a “national parish” and drew worshipers from all corners of Columbus, versus the regionally-defined nature of many other churches.

St. John’s quickly became a cultural center for Italian residents. Its services were conducted in Italian, and the practices were similar to those done “back home” in Italy. Additionally, the church celebrated feast days that were common in Italy as well, such as that of St. John the Baptist and St. Anthony of Padua.

The church in the 1940s. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

Despite financial help from members of the congregation, St. John’s went into debt for the construction of its church and rectory. Fr. Cestelli requested part of nearby Sacred Heart Church’s territory, which was denied by both that church and the diocese of Columbus. He held the church in his own name, and he was so desperate for funding that he offered to relinquish the title of St. John’s to the bishop in exchange for a pension. Fr. Cestelli ended up doing this in February 1901 and left the diocese entirely. In danger of foreclosure, the congregation of St. John’s was forced to fundraise in order to save their church. (For the record, the bishop donated $100 towards the cause.)

After Fr. Cestelli’s departure, the new pastor was another Italian immigrant from Cincinnati, Fr. Vittorio Sovilla. During his tenure, Sovilla personally went door-to-door to solicit donations to decrease the church’s debt. In 1911, he was stabbed by a person visiting under the pretense of receiving marriage advice, but he recovered. Also during his tenure, the Dominican Sisters of the Sick Poor began living in the convent in 1912. However, Fr., Sovilla resigned and returned to Italy in 1913 due to disagreements with his parishioners.

Another photo of the church. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

With the growing Italian neighborhood of San Margherita on the west side, which served the Marble Cliff quarries nearby, new pastor Fr. Rocco Petrarca established a mission there. He paid off the church’s debt completely within four years, along with an extra $5,000 for repairs. Fr. Petrarca had an interest in electronics and built an electric clock for the church’s bells, exterior lighting, and a homemade burglar alarm, which actually ended up preventing a burglary in 1945. However, he began to have health issues and stepped down in 1947. The bishop attempted to close the parish afterwards, but after pushback from the congregation, the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions took over operation of St. John’s beginning in 1949.

When PIME began their tenure, the St. John’s church building was in poor condition. Fr. Petrarca’s convoluted electrical contraptions had to be removed (no one could understand them), and the church’s basement was remodeled to become a meeting hall. The rectory also received an addition. Despite the successful completion of this other work, the steeple was structurally unsafe, and with restoration being too expensive the pastor was forced to remove it.

A photo of the original convent prior to its demolition. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

The congregation has made an effort to maintain the Italian culture of the area in recent years, just as German Village has. It founded the Columbus Italian Festival in 1980, which highlights Italian culture while raising money for college scholarships. St. John’s built an Italian Cultural Center in 1989 (which reconstructed the convent’s facade, demolished due to disrepair).

In 2011, the church’s entry stairs were renovated by architect David Meleca. The steeple was also rebuilt at some point, possibly during that same renovation. Since 2022, St. John’s has been jointly staffed with nearby Sacred Heart Church, a few blocks north on 1st Avenue.

Photos

A nice oblique view of St. John’s today:

The church has a pared-down Gothic Revival design with a brick exterior, though the foundation is Columbus limestone. Window openings are tall and thin (lancets). Unusually, the tower is located on the northwest corner of the building, instead of on the principal south facade as is usually the case.

This leaves the south facade with only two shorter pinnacles on the corners:

The entrance doors have a large transom above them, with two trefoils and a quatrefoil filled with vibrant stained glass:

Detail:

The trio of stained-glass windows above, one larger than its smaller brethren:

One of the skinny pinnacles, topped with a peaked iron finial:

The tower:

I thought the tower’s belfry had been altered due to the odd coloration of the bricks on top, but it seems to be a coat of paint?

Another view straight-on from the west, where the difference is a little more obvious:

West facade of the church:

One of the taller stained-glass windows on the west facade:

Rear (north end) of the church and its rectory:

The convent/cultural center:

This must be the perfect diffuse light that photographers lust over. It usually doesn’t look this good for me. Anyways, I was honestly surprised that this was not the historic rectory but instead a rebuilt example, though a couple things give it away. These include the perfectly clean brick and entrance at grade (common now due to ADA requirements).

Still, the woodwork canopy is remarkably faithful to historic Gothic Revival features:

I just love this delicate, lacy border and the hanging pinnacles.

I also thought the windows were modern replacements, but again, with that 1989 construction date, they are original to the building.

Nice crenellated parapet:

The site has a double-sided Ohio Historical Marker, too. I was confused about its statement claiming that it is listed on the NRHP--it isn’t individually but is a contributing property to the Old North End Historic District.