The Cathedral of San Sabino was founded in the 8th century by the Lombards Duke Arechis II of Benevento, after the abandonment of early Christian sites in San Leucio and St. Peter. It was named after St. Sabinus of Canosa in 1101, by Pope Paschal II, some four hundred years after the transfer of the saint's remains in the crypt.
The plan of the basilica is a Latin cross, covered by five domes and an apse lit by three windows, whose central body is covered with a stained glass window depicting the patron saint. It is an example of Romanesque/Byzantine architecture. Below the chancel are the crypt, shrine of the saint. The arches are supported by marble columns with Corinthian capitals, which were retrieved from devastated ancient monuments. The cathedral lies three feet below the square.
After the earthquake of 1851, the cathedral was damaged and the restoration work led to an expansion of the Latin cross, as well as the reconstruction of the facade in local tuff with three portals, each corresponding to the aisles. The chapels contain in order: a baptismal font, a fresco, an altar dedicated to Our Lady of the Fountain (protectress of Canosa) whose icon came after the First Crusade, in the adjacent Mausoleum of Bohemond, the wooden statue and a painting of Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, and the tomb of Blessed Father Antonio Maria Losito (1838–1917).
The left aisle houses the tomb of the Bishop of Lecce Archbishop Francesco Minerva (1904–2004) following three chapels: one containing the relics, chalices, crucifixes, and a silver bust of the saint enclosed by an iron grating, and the other dedicated to St. Anthony (but with canvas representing St. Francis of Assisi), the third devoted to St. Anne. On the left arm of a Latin cross are two other chapels that of the St. Sacramento containing the statue of the Sacred Heart and the other of St. Joseph.
The presbytery has a high altar with ciborium, set on a marble base with three steps, surmounted by a canopy supported by four red marble columns with Corinthian capitals, octagonal pyramid in two sections held up a total of 48 columns of the same marble, very similar to that in the Basilica of San Nicola di Bari.
References:Stobi was an ancient town of Paeonia located near Gradsko. It is considered by many to be the most famous archaeological site in North Macedonia. Stobi was built where the Erigon (Crna River) joins the Axios (Vardar), making it strategically important as a center for both trade and warfare.
Stobi developed from a Paeonian settlement established in the Archaic period. It is believed that in 217 BCE, Philip V annexed Paionia during his campaign against the Dardani who had entered Bylazora, the largest Paeonian town.
The city was first mentioned in writing by the historian Livy, in connection with a victory of Philip V of Macedon over the Dardani in 197 BC. In 168 BC, the Romans defeated Perseus and Macedonia was divided into four nominally independent republics. In 148 BC, the four areas of Macedonia were brought together in a unified Roman province. In the reign of Augustus the city grew in size and population.