Lapidary – crypt in Bale

Updated November 7, 2026.

Bale’s parish church crypt houses stone fragments from antiquity to the late Middle Ages. It also holds the former sarcophagus of Blessed Julian.

Stone remains of earlier churches

The lapidarium is in the crypt of the parish church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Elizabeth. Stone remains of earlier churches were placed here during the construction of the present church. Monsignor Paolo De Peris, Bale’s parish priest, established the collection in the 19th century.

The surviving sculptures and fragments of stone church furnishings date from antiquity to the late Middle Ages. Finds from San Polo and the churches of Saint Mary the Great and Saint Mary the Small also document former religious buildings in the surrounding area.

The sarcophagus of Blessed Julian

The crypt also contains a sarcophagus dating from 1595, which once held the remains of Blessed Julian, Bale’s patron. In 1755, his remains were transferred to a new reliquary in the parish church. The sarcophagus records an earlier stage of their preservation, rather than their present resting place.