Basilica di Santo Stefano: the Seven Churches of Bologna

Several churches behind one facade

Walk into Piazza Santo Stefano and you see what looks like three brick churches side by side. Go through any of the doors and they keep opening into each other: a church, then a round church, then another church, a courtyard, a cloister, a museum. Bologna calls the whole thing the Sette Chiese, the Seven Churches. Its official name is the Basilica Santuario di Santo Stefano.

The basilica’s own website describes it as the cradle and heart of the Bolognese Church. Tradition says that Petronius, bishop of Bologna in the first half of the fifth century, built a copy of the Jerusalem basilica over the places of Christ’s crucifixion and burial here. Most of what you walk through today is medieval, rebuilt and added to by Benedictine monks, and the complex is now looked after by Franciscan friars.

Entry is free. The friars invite donations.

What you walk through

The Chiesa del Crocifisso dates back to the Lombard period in the eighth century. Its presbytery was raised in the seventeenth century, and the crypt underneath, built around 1020 to hold the relics of the martyrs Vitale and Agricola, is seen through glass.

Inside the Basilica del Santo Sepolcro stands a copy of Christ’s tomb, made in the eleventh century from descriptions brought back by crusaders. For centuries this was where the body of Saint Petronius lay. In 2000 it was moved to the Basilica di San Petronio on Piazza Maggiore.

The Basilica dei Santi Vitale e Agricola was rebuilt in the eleventh century for the two martyrs whose bodies were found in 393.

The Cortile di Pilato is a courtyard with a large limestone basin on a Renaissance pedestal. The inscription on its rim dates it to 737-744, under the Lombard kings Liutprand and Ilprand. On a column under the south portico of the courtyard sits a small stone rooster, a reminder of Peter’s denial of Jesus.

Then the Chiesa della Trinità, holding a carved wooden Adoration of the Magi from the thirteenth century, painted in 1370, and the cloister: two levels of arches, the lower probably eleventh century and the upper from the second half of the twelfth. The small museum and the Chiesa della Benda close the circuit.

Visiting hours and etiquette

Official hours, as updated by the basilica on 2 August 2026:

• Tuesday to Saturday: 09:30 to 12:30 and 14:30 to 19:00
• Sundays and holidays: 09:30 to 12:30 and 15:00 to 19:00
• Mondays: tourist visits suspended; the Chiesa del Crocifisso opens 18:00 to 19:30 for Mass

The midday closure from 12:30 catches people out. Mass is said at 18:30 every day, and hours can change for services or special events, so check santostefanobologna.it before a Monday or holiday visit.

These are working churches. Keep voices down and phones silent, and dress as you would for any church in Italy.

Piazza Santo Stefano

The square outside is almost as much of a reason to come. It is a triangle, lined with palazzi.

From Palazzo Isolani on the square, Corte Isolani is a passage of linked courtyards that comes out at Strada Maggiore 19. It is open during the day and makes a good shortcut back toward the Due Torri.

On the second Sunday of each month, and the Saturday before it, the Mercato Antiquario Città di Bologna fills the square and the streets around it with antiques and collectibles stalls. It takes a break in July and August.

How to get there from Piazza Maggiore

It is 575 metres, about eight minutes on foot. Leave the square at its east side by Palazzo dei Banchi, walk straight down Via Clavature through the Quadrilatero market streets, and keep going as it becomes Via Santo Stefano. The road opens into the piazza on your left.

The route is flat and mostly porticoed. Coming back, take Corte Isolani to Strada Maggiore and walk west to the towers, then along Via Rizzoli to Piazza Maggiore. That makes an easy loop.

Tips

• Look for the free Pietre vive guided visits, run by young volunteers on some days of the month between 15:30 and 18:00. The basilica’s website lists the dates.
• If you would like to stay in this part of the center, see our guide to where to stay in Bologna.
• Combine it with the San Luca portico on a second day if you liked the walk here.