Milan’s Innovative and Unusual Churches
Italy’s most modern city may not seem the obvious place for historic churches, but Milan holds a wealth of landmarks beyond the iconic Duomo. Several of Italy’s oldest Christian structures survive here, along with a whole series of classic Lombard buildings. Renaissance luminary Donato Bramante worked on at least four churches, including Santa Maria delle Grazie, home of The Last Supper.
Milan developed its own style of architecture in the shadowy centuries following the Roman Empire’s collapse. With its history of independence from the Papacy and closer ties to Northern Europe, Milan’s churches didn’t get the Baroque treatment like so many others in Italy. Along with some of the country’s best art and architecture, these monuments provide oases of tranquility within the fast-paced city. All are marked on our Google map.
Table of Contents
Duomo
San Lorenzo Maggiore
Sant’Eustorgio
Sant’Ambrogio
San Simpliciano
San Nazaro in Brolo
Sant’Eufemia
San Bernardino alle Ossa
San Satiro
Santa Maria della Grazie
San Maurizio
Duomo
Milan’s ascendancy began with Rome’s decline. The Latin city Mediolanum usurped Rome’s place as capital of the western empire in 286. It was here that Constantine announced a ban on religious persecution in 313. Within the year, the Milanese began constructing a cathedral complex over a pagan temple, fragments of which remain under the current Duomo.
Italy’s only Gothic cathedral took nearly 600 years to complete, under 77 different project chiefs. In 1386 the powerful Visconti family spearheaded construction of a new cathedral. Its massive scale symbolized the city’s prominence, while its Gothic style looked to international trends rather than classical Italian tradition.
The sheer scope of the project combined with Milan’s tumultuous fortunes often slowed progress, and the Duomo didn’t approach completion until 1965. With a capacity of 40,000, it’s still one of the largest churches in the world. It also features well over 3,000 statues, more than any other building.
Although the general design stayed consistent, changing tastes left an interior more impressive in scale than originality. But the glimmering exterior is a beloved anchor of the city – and visiting the rooftop is arguably one of the most extraordinary experiences in Milan. Far above the metropolis, one can walk among a three-dimensional filigree of buttresses and sculptures, with epic views in every direction. Reserve tickets in advance during high season; see the website for details.
San Lorenzo Maggiore
Thanks to slower development outside the medieval city center, a number of early churches survive. The oldest is San Lorenzo, which features pieces from every major period over nearly two thousand years. 16 columns, taken from a second-century Roman temple were moved to make a grand arcade for what may have been the emperor’s own church. Behind them stands a statue of Constantine from the 1930s, while the church itself features a 16th century dome and a 19th century porch.
Little is known about the building’s early years besides its Roman origins. It might have hosted civil ceremonies, or perhaps it was a mausoleum for the imperial family. The ancient Capella di Sant’Agostino features fourth century mosaics of a fresh-faced Christ teaching the Apostles.
San Lorenzo’s imperial influences made this church particularly appealing to Renaissance artists, who were fascinated with ancient architecture; apparently Leonardo and Bramante were taken with the powerful space.
For visiting information, see the website.
Sant’Eustorgio
Just off the main intersection of Milan’s remaining canals, the Basilica di Sant’Eustorgio is one of Milan’s oldest churches. After a thousand years, the structure’s appearance settled into the form we see today – with one key addition.
Pigello Portinari, a Florentine representing the Medici Bank, commissioned a chapel in the new Renaissance style. It’s based on Brunelleschi’s Old Sacristy in Florence, but where that chapel used a limited palette to emphasize geometry, the Portinari Chapel adds color. Rainbows held religious significance, but the chromatic dome also emphasizes the period’s fascination with optics. Renaissance writers distinguished four colors in the rainbow, rather than the seven we identify today.
For visiting information, see the website.
Sant’Ambrogio
Milan’s growth as an independent power began when its governor-turned-bishop Ambrose led the transition from Roman to Christian society. The Milanese united under the teachings of the soon-to-be-saint as he organized the faith into a community. Ambrose established the local Church as protector of people, ready to defend them against temporal powers and interference from Rome. He also founded four major churches at the end of the fourth century, of which three survive at least in part: Sant’Ambrosio, San Navolo in Brolo, and San Simpliciano.
Given Ambrose’s outsized impact on history, it’s fitting that the church dedicated to him would go on to host so many key events, from coronations of the Lombard Kings of Italy to democratic uprisings. A populist revolt in the front atrium led to a more democratic city government; within less than a century, nearly every other major town in northern and central Italy followed suit. These ‘communes’ eventually developed into the independent city-states of the Renaissance.
Christianity’s sudden transformation from forbidden to dominant religion created a need for lots of churches very quickly. During Ambrose’s tenure, a new style developed which employed bricks in a herringbone layout along with recycled marble elements. Quick and economical, Lombard Romanesque architecture prioritized efficiency over grandeur.
The Sant’Ambrogio complex expanded over the years to include multiple structures, including a Renaissance cloister attributed to Bramante.
For visiting information, see the website.
San Simpliciano
The Basilica di San Simpliciano is one of the four Ambrosian churches founded by the bishop in the late fourth century. Besides commemorating sites of Christian martyrs, they were intended to create a symbolic cross shape around the cathedral. Brick vaulting and a dome replaced the original wooden roof between the 11th and 13th centuries, but this austere structure retains more of its original architecture than most.
Carlo Maciachini (architect of the city’s Monumental Cemetery) preserved the original stone entryway in his brick facade of 1870. Medieval carvings on either side of the door depict women carrying lamps – probably a reference to the Virgins to whom the church was originally dedicated.
Open Tuesday-Saturday 7-7, Sunday-Monday 7-12 & 4-7.
San Nazaro in Brolo
San Nazaro in Brolo (382–397) was also founded by Saint Ambrose. An inscription within the church – traditionally attributed to Ambrose himself – records that the floor plan was modeled on the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. This makes it the first church in the West to use a cross-shaped layout.
The church was renovated and rebuilt over the years. Often the original materials were recycled, but a fire in 1075 prompted the substitution of stone vaulting for the old wooden beams on top. The most notable addition came in the early 16th century, when Bramantino (a pupil of Bramante) began a mausoleum for the Trivulzio family. From the outside, the double-height block looks square but on the inside, it’s an octagon.
Open Monday-Friday 7:30-12 & 3:30-6:30, Saturday 8-12:30 & 3:30-6, Sunday 8-12:30 & 4-6:30.
Sant’Eufemia
Several blocks from San Nazaro, one of Milan’s loveliest churches celebrates the city’s architectural heritage with a blend of elements from different periods. Although its origins go back to the fifth century, the current structure is mostly the product of an intensive 1870 renovation. The brick facade picks up on Lombard traditions, adding Gothic rose windows with delicate tracery and a classical porch with round arches. Inside, graphic stripes dominate, supplemented by intricate bands of pattern and frescoed panels.
Open Monday-Friday 7:30-12, Saturday 9-12, Sunday 10-12 & 5-7.
San Bernardino alle Ossa
This site has held a church since the fourth century, but its claim to fame didn’t begin for over 800 years. When the adjacent cemetery ran out of space in 1210, the church added a room to hold bones. With a steady stream of remains from a nearby hospital as well as a prison, the ossuary grew in size and reputation. A major remodel during the Baroque period used the bones themselves as decoration, arranging them in lacy lines or panels with cross shapes. By reminding visitors of life’s transience, the skeletons are meant to encourage mediation. Their macabre quality balances the giddy level of ornamentation.
For visiting information, see the website.
San Satiro
The Chiesa di Santa Maria presso San Satiro squeezes an incredible amount of architecture into a small plot. Bramante’s chapel combines a round base with a four-sided transition zone, an octagonal tower, and a round spire – and that’s just one part of the building.
Bramante’s false perspective (left) uses distorted angles (right) to trick the eye.
Entering through Giovanni Antonio Amadeo’s high-octane Renaissance façade, the church seems bigger than it actually is. That’s because Bramante harnessed recent developments in perspective to create a trompe l’oeil relief, creating the illusion of space behind the altar. Although it gets less attention, the towering, domed Baptistery is another sublime part of the church.
Open weekdays 7:30-6, Saturday 3:30-7, Sunday 9:30-12 and 3:30-7.
Santa Maria della Grazie
Santa Maria delle Grazie is best known today for housing Leonardo’s Last Supper in its refectory, but we recommend visiting the church even if tickets to see the fresco are sold out. While the Duomo is bigger and Sant’Ambrogio has more history, Santa Maria Della Grazie showcases Milanese architecture at its best.
Duke Francesco I Sforza commissioned a convent on the site in the 15th century, in the heavily-patterned Italian Gothic style. His successor Ludovico liked it enough to use it as the family burial site – but decided it needed an update in the new Renaissance style. Attributed to Bramante, the remodel brought unity to a variety of influences, from Romanesque and Gothic to the High Renaissance. Its elegance notwithstanding, the Santa Maria delle Grazie shows an exuberant creativity; one can sense the architect’s joy in playing with circles and pattern.
See the website for visiting information.
San Maurizio
Calling this church the “Sistine Chapel of Milan” does it a disservice. It may be covered in frescoes, but they are apples to Michelangelo’s oranges. There’s more variety here, with plenty of trompe l’oeil architectural elements mixed into figurative paintings in a range of styles.
Treasures and oddities include a surprisingly early series of unpopulated landscapes and a picture of Noah’s Ark poised on a cylindrical mountain. Bernardino Luini, a member of Leonardo da Vinci’s coterie, led the project and contributed some of the most spectacular portions around the central partition.
Open Tuesday-Sunday 10-5:30.
Further Reading
For more on the area, see our posts
A Guide to Milan’s Diverse Architecture, Organized by Neighborhood