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Santo Stefano
The Seven Churches
Dedicated to the first Christian martyr, Santo Stefano is the Jerusalem Bononiensis, the 'Jerusalem of Bologna'. It was founded, according to legend by St Petronius, who had visited the hermit-saints of the Holy Land as a youth. Petronius’ intent was to reproduce the seven holy sites of Jerusalem, enabling the faithful to make at least a symbolic pilgrimage.
Most of the work in this unique complex dates from the 8th–12th centuries. It was held in the highest esteem by the Lombards in their day, but was considerably altered in modern restorations. The restorations uncovered the interesting fact that Santo Stefano was built over the site of an ancient religious sanctuary, a temple of the Egyptian goddess Isis (Egyptian religion was extremely popular in the Roman Empire, and promoted by several of the emperors, especially Domitian).
Images by Gaspa, Creative Commons License, GFreihalter, Creative Commons License, mararie, M.Violante, GNU Creative Commons License