The Church of San Leo, dating back to the 17th century, is one of Bova’s most significant religious buildings, dedicated to the village’s patron saint, who has been venerated for centuries for his thaumaturgic and protective figure. The church has a rectangular plan with a single nave, enriched by side chapels and Baroque-style decorations. The interior walls are embellished with elegant 19th-century stucco work, giving the room a solemn and refined atmosphere.
The majestic high altar, rich in polychrome marble, houses in its central niche a marble statue of St. Leo, made in 1582 and attributed to the famous sculptor Rinaldo Bonanno. The statue, carved in white marble, is framed by a double row of inlaid red marble columns, above which stands the marble coat of arms of the city of Bova.
Particularly striking is the Chapel of Relics, built in 1722 as an ex voto by the Marzano brothers. The altar in this chapel, dated 1732, consists of four polychrome marble columns and holds the Saint’s relics in a rich chiseled silver urn, while a silver half-bust of St. Leo represents one of the finest works of local sacred art.
Prominent among the church’s pictorial treasures is a precious 18th-century canvas located in the right aisle chapel, depicting the Immaculate Madonna, flanked by St. Francis of Paola, St. Anthony of Padua and St. Joseph. The work, created by Calabrian painters influenced by the Neapolitan school, combines grace and spiritual intensity in a composition rich in Marian symbolism.
The Church of St. Leo is not only a place of worship, but also the custodian of Bova’s religious and artistic memory, the pulsating center of a devotion that spans the centuries and continues to live on in the community’s celebrations and faith.
