Above is how the church looks without scaffolding. Below is how I saw it last week:

Behind the simple facade of this pretty little antique church lies a surprising interior and AMAZING HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE. Instead of a rectangular basilica formation, or even that of a Greek cross, this church is built in the shape of a star!

Santa Sofia is a Roman Catholic church in the town of Benevento, in the region of Campania, in southern Italy; founded in the late-8th century, it retains many elements of its original Lombard architecture.

In 2011, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of a group of seven inscribed as Longobards in Italy. Places of the power (568–774 A.D.). Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power (568-774 A.D.) UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Italian: Longobardi in Italia: i luoghi del potere) is seven groups of historic buildings that reflect the achievements of the Germanic tribe of the Lombards (also referred to as Longobards), who settled in Italy during the 6th century and established a Lombard Kingdom which ended in 774 A.D.

The group comprises monasteries, church buildings, and fortresses and became UNESCO World Heritage Sites in June 2011 as they testify “to the Lombards’ major role in the spiritual and cultural development of Medieval European Christianity.

The Santa Sofia complex at Benevento (Campania) is located around the Santa Sofia church, previously home to the most important Longobard duke of Langobardia Minor and founded by Duke Arechis II around 760. It was based on the model of the Palatine chapel of Liutprando in Pavia; the central plan is based on that of the homonymous church of Constantinople, however, at the centre, there are six columns which support the dome which are positioned at each of the corners of a hexagon and are connected by arches. The inner hexagon is then surrounded by a decagonal ring with eight piers in white limestone and two pillars at either side of the entrance, each arranged parallel to the corresponding wall. Fragments of original frescoes, which used to cover the whole of the inside of the church, remain on the two side apses.

A monastery is also a part of the complex, after being rebuilt in the 13th century, replacing the original Longobard building with another later addition of a quadrangular cloister.

The next shots are of 2 small chapels off the main church interior.

You just never can be sure in Italy as to what you are seeing for the first, 10th or 100th time! There is a story waiting to reveal itself to you if you take a moment and open your mind.