Chiesa di Santo Stefano di Baiano

The Church of Santo Stefano di Baiano, also known as the “Sanctuary”, is a place of worship located in Via Leonardo.

Founded at the beginning of the 16th century as a cemetery chapel with a single nave, it was initially dedicated to the veneration of Saint Roch, Saint Vitus and Our Lady of Grace. It was a prodigious event in 1750 that prompted the faithful to enlarge it, raise it up and consecrate it to the cult of Saint Stephen, patron saint of Baiano.

The architectural structure of the Church, located at the foot of the Hermitage of Jesus and Mary, has a basilica layout; two pairs of fluted pilasters, resting on rectangular bases and ending in composite capitals, stand on either side of the large entrance portal of the façade, crowned by a lunette on which a Baroque frieze rests. In the interior with a nave and two aisles, the exquisite main altar is made of polychrome marble; there is a stone marker dating back to 1756 and an organ case made of ivory, wood and ebony, built between 1900 and 1910. There is a wooden statue of the Protomartyr Saint and a 19th-century painting of The Stoning of Saint Stephen on the ceiling.

Every year, in the square in front of the Mother Church, the Maio is hoisted in front of the churchyard. This majestic tree is the symbol and sacred offering of the people of Baiano to the Saint, on the occasion of the feast of the same name.