Description
The church of Santo Stefano is an ancient parish church on the hill of Marinasco, in the northern part of La Spezia, with a terrace-like esplanade that looks over the city and the gulf. It is one of the five ancient pievi overlooking the Gulf of La Spezia, and it preserves stones from an even older building.
It is also a church turned the wrong way round. At the end of the 18th century the ground of the hill was so unstable that, to save it, they demolished its facade, built the apse in its place and turned the old apse into the entrance.
Its territory reached far: the district of Marinasco extended to the Cinque Terre, with Riomaggiore and Manarola, and perhaps even Portovenere. The first certain record dates to 950, with the signature of an archpriest of Marinasco.
Another record, from 1094, mentions the archpriest Azo, who signed a donation to the monastery of San Venerio del Tino. It speaks of property handed down "according to the Law of the Lombards": a sign that this law still survived under the Frankish empire.
Today's church, in Gothic-Cistercian forms, dates to the 13th century or a little after. The exterior is of square sandstone blocks from the nearby hills, while the bluish limestone stones of the first building come from Monte Parodi.
It has three aisles divided by pillars enclosing four sandstone columns, with Romanesque arches hidden by the late Baroque decoration of 1780. In the central door, inside the old apse, Romanesque remains can still be seen.
A side door has on its lintel a small head and the outlines of a lamb, a lion and another animal that is hard to identify. On the right a capital hollowed out as a holy water stoup is set into the wall. The side portal has bronze doors by Pietro Ravecca showing the martyrdom of Saint Stephen.
To keep the church standing, a great retaining wall was built, which gave rise to the esplanade, today a terrace with a view over the city and the gulf. In the light of sunset, and then in the evening, the lights come on below you.
The bell tower, from 1780, also served to support the building. With its bright colors it became a landmark for sailors in the gulf, who used it to check their compasses.
Don't miss
• The marble Madonna, attributed to the school of Nino Pisano.
• The baptismal font of 1463.
• The colorful bell tower.
• The esplanade with its view over the gulf.
Did you know?
• The statue of the Madonna is one meter tall: the Child holds a little bird in his hand.
• The name Marinasco, according to the historian Ubaldo Formentini, has nothing to do with the sea: it perhaps comes from a place name in Gaul.
It is also a church turned the wrong way round. At the end of the 18th century the ground of the hill was so unstable that, to save it, they demolished its facade, built the apse in its place and turned the old apse into the entrance.
Its territory reached far: the district of Marinasco extended to the Cinque Terre, with Riomaggiore and Manarola, and perhaps even Portovenere. The first certain record dates to 950, with the signature of an archpriest of Marinasco.
Another record, from 1094, mentions the archpriest Azo, who signed a donation to the monastery of San Venerio del Tino. It speaks of property handed down "according to the Law of the Lombards": a sign that this law still survived under the Frankish empire.
Today's church, in Gothic-Cistercian forms, dates to the 13th century or a little after. The exterior is of square sandstone blocks from the nearby hills, while the bluish limestone stones of the first building come from Monte Parodi.
It has three aisles divided by pillars enclosing four sandstone columns, with Romanesque arches hidden by the late Baroque decoration of 1780. In the central door, inside the old apse, Romanesque remains can still be seen.
A side door has on its lintel a small head and the outlines of a lamb, a lion and another animal that is hard to identify. On the right a capital hollowed out as a holy water stoup is set into the wall. The side portal has bronze doors by Pietro Ravecca showing the martyrdom of Saint Stephen.
To keep the church standing, a great retaining wall was built, which gave rise to the esplanade, today a terrace with a view over the city and the gulf. In the light of sunset, and then in the evening, the lights come on below you.
The bell tower, from 1780, also served to support the building. With its bright colors it became a landmark for sailors in the gulf, who used it to check their compasses.
Don't miss
• The marble Madonna, attributed to the school of Nino Pisano.
• The baptismal font of 1463.
• The colorful bell tower.
• The esplanade with its view over the gulf.
Did you know?
• The statue of the Madonna is one meter tall: the Child holds a little bird in his hand.
• The name Marinasco, according to the historian Ubaldo Formentini, has nothing to do with the sea: it perhaps comes from a place name in Gaul.