This Romanesque grey-and-white-striped church stands out from the centrally located Via XX Settembre, above the porticoes next to the bridge known as Ponte Monumentale. Tradition has it that Christopher Columbus was baptised here in 1451, as his family lived in the nearby wool-makers’ district (Borgo Lanaioli). Once a prominent Benedictine Abbey, Saint Stephen’s church is over 1000 years old. Founded around 972 AD, this site is believed to have already been a place of worship in the 7th century, when the city was governed by the Langobards. Earlier on, in pre-Roman times, this area had been used as a necropolis. Proof of this can be found in several archaeological finds and a number of arcosolia, or arched recesses used as tombs, on the side wall of the church – all of which have supplied us with a considerable amount of information concerning the city’s early history. On the inside, this rectangular, single-nave church has a raised chancel with an underlying crypt, and a wonderful 17th century baptism font within. Historians believe the crypt may be what is left of an earlier church dedicated to Saint Michael. On the right-hand-side wall is the Martyrdom of Saint Stephen, painted by Giulio Romano in 1521. The octagonal dome is made of bricks, as is the bell tower, the lower part of which is believed to have originally been a watchtower, before the church was built. The church’s current uneven Romanesque look is the result of the demolition of the side chapels after the bombings of the Second World War.