BOLOGNA - Basilica di Santo Stefano

Sunday morning we went for a walk and just happened on this beautiful Basilica di Santo Stefano, which isn't one church but, originally it was seven interlinked churches built right next to each other. Today only four of the original seven are still around, and situated around them are a few courtyards, a cloister, and a crypt and it's quite fascinating to move from one into the other. They are quite spectacular in their understated beauty and you won't find great works of art, instead an aura of silence and tranquility. What struck me most, and had never seen before, was the elevated altar which set the sacred part of the church higher than the secular one. The site dates back to pre-Christ times, when it was used as a pagan site of worship and the churches you see today were constructed between the 5th and 12th centuries. . . On display are the bones of San Petronio, Bologna's patron saint. When we walked out again into the bright sunlight, we felt so good, refreshed of body and soul, that we were ready for more sight-seeing.

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