A church dedicated to Saint John already existed in 1308, with a small adjoining oratory dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, which in later centuries became the meeting place of the local confraternity. A place of worship stood on the site of the present church as early as the 15th century. Following the miraculous events attributed to the crucifix preserved there, the church was rebuilt and enlarged in the late 1670s to a design by the Ciminna-born architect Don Paolo Amato. It was opened for worship in 1709 and completed in 1715. The interior is divided into three naves by two rows of stone columns with Ionic capitals.
In 1793, the central nave, the transept, the side chapels, and the main apse were decorated with stucco by the master stucco artist Giuseppe Guarneri.
Inside the Church
- Crucifix (wood), dating to the mid-15th century, by an unknown artist.
- Triptych of Our Lady of Udienza (oil on panel with a gold background), attributed to the painter Riccardo Quartararo (16th century). According to tradition, it originally came from the rural Church of Santa Maria delle Rocche.
- Saint John the Baptist (gilded polychrome wood), carved by Andrea D’Angelo of Marsala in 1598, painted by Antonino Spatafora, and gilded by the master craftsman Francesco Sansano in 1600.
- The Adoration of the Magi (oil on canvas), by a 17th-century painter.
- Saint Catherine of Alexandria (oil on canvas), attributed to the Ciminna-born painter Giovan Battista Mansella (late 17th century), set within an elaborately carved Baroque frame decorated with floral motifs.
- The Coronation of Saint Rosalia with Saints John and Roch (oil on canvas), attributed to the Flemish painter Geronimo Gerardi of Palermo, 17th century.
- Our Lady of the Rosary with Saints Dominic, Catherine, Rosalia, and Isidore (oil on canvas), attributed to Guglielmo Borremans, late 17th–early 18th century.
- High Altar (painted and gilded wood), created by the sculptor Francesco Quattrocchi in 1848.
