Bologna - "Basilica di Santo Stefano"

The "Basilica di Santo Stefano" known as "Sette Chiese" (= "Seven Churches") encompasses a complex of interconnected religious edifices, erected between the 5th and the 13th century.

According to tradition Saint Petronius, a bishop during the 5th century, built the first basilica. He actually wished a building that recalled the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Petronius´ church got severely damaged during the devastating invasions of Hungarian troops in the tenth century. The octogonal Basilica del Sepolcro got rebuilt a century later by Benedictian monks.

These dancing mermaids are inside the Chiesa della Trinità o del Martyrium ("Church of the Trinity or the Martyrium"), a church that never got completed. Only the portico exists. Here is a wonderful "Adoration of the Magi" created in 1370 by the well known painter Simone dei Crocifissi, but the sculptures are behind reflective glass - and I was unable to take a decent photo.