Santo Stefano di Magra is a comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

(municipality) in the Province of La Spezia

Province of La Spezia

The Province of La Spezia is a province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of La Spezia.It has an area of 881 km², and a total population of 223,606 inhabitants...

 in the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region Liguria

Liguria

Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...

, located about 80 km southeast of Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

 and about 11 km northeast of La Spezia

La Spezia

La Spezia , at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the Liguria region of northern Italy, is the capital city of the province of La Spezia. Located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea, it is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and hosts one of Italy's biggest military...

. It is located near the confluence of torrent Vara

Vara River

The Vara is a river of the Province of La Spezia in Liguria, north-west Italy, which runs through Varese Ligure, Brugnato, Borghetto di Vara and Castiglione di Vara. At 58 km it is the longest river in Liguria...

 into the Magra

Magra

The Magra is a 62 km river of Northern Italy, which runs through Pontremoli, Villafranca in Lunigiana and Aulla in the province of Massa-Carrara ; Santo Stefano di Magra, Vezzano Ligure, Arcola, Sarzana and Ameglia in the province of La Spezia .In Roman times it was known as the Macra and marked...

 river. It is part of the Montemarcello-Magra Natural Regional Park. It has an entrance and exit to the toll-paying "Autostrada"

The municipality of Santo Stefano di Magra contains the frazioni

Frazione

A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...

(subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Ponzano Magra, Ponzano Belaso, and Ponzano Superiore.

Santo Stefano di Magra borders the following municipalities: Aulla

Aulla

-History:Traces of Roman and Etruscan civilizations found in the Church of Saint Caprisio indicate that there were settlements in Aulla long before the 8th century CE, when margrave Adalbert I of Tuscany founded a village and castle to accommodate pilgrims traveling the via Francigena. Here, at...

, Bolano

Bolano

Bolano is a comune in the Province of La Spezia in the Italian region Liguria, located about 80 km southeast of Genoa and about 11 km northeast of La Spezia...

, Sarzana

Sarzana

Sarzana is a town and comune in the Province of La Spezia, of Liguria, Italy, 15 km east of Spezia, on the railway to Pisa, at the point where the railway to Parma diverges to the north...

, Vezzano Ligure

Vezzano Ligure

Vezzano Ligure is a comune in the Province of La Spezia in the Italian region of Liguria, located about 80 km southeast of Genoa and about 7 km northeast of La Spezia....

.

History

Founded before 1000 AD, Santo Stefano is remembered as a marketplace in 981 by Emperor Otto II

Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor

Otto II , called the Red, was the third ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty, the son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy.-Early years and co-ruler with Otto I:...

 and in 1185 by Emperor Frederick I

Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...

. It was a stage across the Via Francigena

Via Francigena

The Via Francigena is an ancient road between Rome and Canterbury, passing through England, France, Switzerland and Italy. In mediaeval times it was an important road and pilgrimage route...

, with a hospice housing pilgrims and travellers.

Around 1200 it is first mentioned on a written source, in the event of the peace between the Malaspina family and the bishops of Luni

Luni, Italy

Luni is a frazione of the comune of Ortonovo, province of La Spezia, in the easternmost end of the Liguria region of northern Italy...

.

Main sights

The town is divided into two parts by the old central road, and enclosed by powerful late Renaissance walls. The church dedicated to St. Stephen was built in the 18th century over a medieval pieve

Pieve

In the Middle Ages, a pieve was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended.The Italian word pieve is descended from Latin plebs which, after the expansion of Christianity in Italy, was applied to the community of baptized people...

.