Chiesa di Santo Stefano Protomartire

Chiesa di Santo Stefano Protomartire presents as a rectangular hall, terminating in an apse whose cross-vault is preceded by a triumphal arch. Two symmetrical lateral projections, housing the side altars, emerge from the main body with triple-pitched roofs; a further projection to the north accommodates the sacristy. The pronaos, with three arched openings, carries a pavilion roof supported by trusses, purlins, and decorated tiles in a lozenge pattern. A high campanile a vela, a bell-gable, is constructed with a tall, full-centred arch, finished with a trabeation and pediment. The fenestration bears witness to the various interventions the building has undergone over the centuries.

This is a Roman church, a period when Christian architecture often adapted and reinterpreted earlier Roman forms. The triumphal arch, a feature borrowed from imperial architecture, typically marked the transition from nave to sanctuary, symbolising the passage from the earthly to the divine. Here, it frames the apse, anchoring the building’s liturgical focus. The patchwork of windows, meanwhile, tells a quieter story: of repair, renewal, and the slow accumulation of time.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.