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Sebbene sia piccola, la basilica di Sant'Anna ha un bell'altare.

Sebbene sia piccola, la basilica di Sant'Anna ha un bell'altare.
Although it is small, the basilica of Saint Anna has a beautiful altar.
From Lesson 266:Shortening adjectives (gran, san)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Sebbene sia piccola, la basilica di Sant'Anna ha un bell'altare.

Why is it Sant'Anna with an apostrophe instead of just saying Santa Anna?
When the title Santo or Santa comes before a name that starts with a vowel, the final vowel is dropped (a phonetic truncation called apocope) and replaced with an apostrophe. This makes the words flow together smoothly.
Why do we use the subjunctive sia instead of the indicative è?
The word sebbene (although) is a classic trigger for the subjunctive mood. It introduces a concession, acknowledging a contrasting fact before making the main point, which always requires the subjunctive in Italian.
Why is it bell'altare instead of bel altare?
When placed before a noun, the adjective bello mimics the definite article that noun would take. Because altare starts with a vowel, it takes the article l' (l'altare). Following that exact pattern, bello changes to bell'.
If altare starts with a vowel, why is there no apostrophe on un?
Altare is a masculine noun. The indefinite article un only takes an apostrophe before feminine nouns that start with a vowel. For masculine nouns, it remains just un without an apostrophe.

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