Sasso Mobile

This is among the oldest buildings in the Municipality of Bazzano. The Church was first mentioned in 789; the oldest preserved artifact, a fragment of the stone portal from Lombard or Carolinian origin, probably comes from the same period. The Castle also contains a capital on a column attributed to the Romanesque period. The current building has undergone a long series of modifications (the façade was reconstructed after having been bombarded in the autumn of 1944). Originally the church was designed in a single nave structure, perpendicular to the current one, with its apse located at the site of the present entrance. This orientation was modified during the 16th and 17th centuries, when the entire Castle was being remodeled. The bell tower, recently restructured, dates to the 18th century. Inside are found numerous great works of art, such as the altarpiece of Saint Stephen painted by Simone Cantarini, some canvases by Gaetano Gandolfi, whose hand also contributed some of the paintings making up the lovely Via Crucis, works by Crespi, by Alessando Calvi and many others (such as The Death of St. Joseph; St.Lucia) and a beautiful wooden statue of the Madonna of Peace. The church is also a prelature.