Santo Stefano, Baroque church in Vicenza, Italy

Santo Stefano is a Baroque church in Vicenza featuring symmetrically arranged pilaster strips and six windows along its side walls. The main facade displays four prominent pilaster strips that create a sense of vertical rhythm and balance throughout the structure.

A chapel dedicated to Saint Stephen is first documented in a bull of Pope Urban III from 1186; it was rebuilt in 1459 and given to the Theatines in 1595. The first stone of the present church was blessed on 25 June 1695, and the Vicentine architect Carlo Borella led a construction that lasted over 40 years. The facade and dome were finished by 1750 and the main altar by 1764, funded by the city council and private donors.

The church was dedicated to Saint Gaetano Thiene, proclaimed co-patron of Vicenza in 1672, and to Saint Stephen; the Theatines wanted to rename it after their founder but were removed from the parish by public decree in 1720. The Theatine congregation had settled here in 1595 at the invitation of Bishop Michele Priuli.

The church stands on Contrà Santo Stefano, a short walk from Vicenza's central Piazza dei Signori. Its main front faces the street, while the long side walls with pilaster strips and six windows run along the lane. It is an active place of worship, so visitors should dress and behave accordingly and avoid visiting during services.

The church was meant to be renamed after San Gaetano Thiene, canonized in 1672 and made co-patron of Vicenza; the Theatines wanted to replace Santo Stefano's name with his, and the 1695 first stone was blessed for that purpose. The dedication to both saints survives in the building's double title.