Description
The Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio is one of the oldest churches in Milan, in Piazza Sant'Ambrogio, dedicated to the city's patron saint. Its present look is Romanesque, 11th century, but the plan is still the one the saint wanted: three aisles, a large four-sided atrium in front, an air of ancient brick and silence.
The first sight is the atrium with its gabled facade and two bell towers. The right-hand one, the monks', dates from the 9th century and is the only part left of the original monastery. The left-hand one, the canons', is taller and from the 12th century.
Inside, under the crossing tower, is the golden altar, the work of Vuolvinus made between 824 and 859: a frontal of gold and precious stones on all four sides, a masterpiece of Carolingian goldsmithing. On one side Ambrose crowns Archbishop Angilbert, who commissioned it.
Above the altar stands the ciborium, on four red porphyry columns from the ancient basilica. In the apse gleams an 11th-century mosaic. Below, under the altar, rest the bodies of Ambrose and of Saints Gervasius and Protasius.
The oldest treasure, though, is the Sacellum of San Vittore in Ciel d'Oro, a 5th-century chapel whose vault is entirely covered in golden tesserae. Among the six saints on the blue walls is Ambrose: his oldest known portrait.
Inside the basilica you can also see the sarcophagus of Stilicho, from the early Christian era. In the nave an ancient granite column holds up a bronze serpent: the "Serpent of Moses", given in 1007 by the Byzantine emperor Basil II.
Two holes in an old Roman column, outside, beside the church. According to legend the devil made them: he wanted to gore Sant'Ambrogio with his horns, missed his target and got stuck in the stone. To this day, they say, the holes smell of sulfur.
The basilica was built at the wish of Ambrose himself, bishop of Milan, between 379 and 386, when the city was capital of the Western Empire. It was called the "basilica of the martyrs": here Ambrose laid the relics of Gervasius and Protasius, and here he himself was buried. The church took his name only centuries later.
In the early Middle Ages the kings of Italy were crowned here. The bombs of 1943 destroyed much of the atrium and damaged the dome and the apse mosaic, but the basilica is back as it was.
Don't miss
• Vuolvinus's golden altar.
• The Sacellum of San Vittore in Ciel d'Oro.
• The sarcophagus of Stilicho.
• The Serpent of Moses.
• The two bell towers.
Did you know?
• According to tradition, when the bronze serpent comes down from its column it will be the end of the world.
• The "column of the devil" was used for coronations: Germanic emperors swore their oath, received the Iron Crown and then embraced the column.
• In front of the basilica, from 1886 to 2006, the "Oh bej! Oh bej!" fair was held, the Milanese Christmas market.
The first sight is the atrium with its gabled facade and two bell towers. The right-hand one, the monks', dates from the 9th century and is the only part left of the original monastery. The left-hand one, the canons', is taller and from the 12th century.
Inside, under the crossing tower, is the golden altar, the work of Vuolvinus made between 824 and 859: a frontal of gold and precious stones on all four sides, a masterpiece of Carolingian goldsmithing. On one side Ambrose crowns Archbishop Angilbert, who commissioned it.
Above the altar stands the ciborium, on four red porphyry columns from the ancient basilica. In the apse gleams an 11th-century mosaic. Below, under the altar, rest the bodies of Ambrose and of Saints Gervasius and Protasius.
The oldest treasure, though, is the Sacellum of San Vittore in Ciel d'Oro, a 5th-century chapel whose vault is entirely covered in golden tesserae. Among the six saints on the blue walls is Ambrose: his oldest known portrait.
Inside the basilica you can also see the sarcophagus of Stilicho, from the early Christian era. In the nave an ancient granite column holds up a bronze serpent: the "Serpent of Moses", given in 1007 by the Byzantine emperor Basil II.
Two holes in an old Roman column, outside, beside the church. According to legend the devil made them: he wanted to gore Sant'Ambrogio with his horns, missed his target and got stuck in the stone. To this day, they say, the holes smell of sulfur.
The basilica was built at the wish of Ambrose himself, bishop of Milan, between 379 and 386, when the city was capital of the Western Empire. It was called the "basilica of the martyrs": here Ambrose laid the relics of Gervasius and Protasius, and here he himself was buried. The church took his name only centuries later.
In the early Middle Ages the kings of Italy were crowned here. The bombs of 1943 destroyed much of the atrium and damaged the dome and the apse mosaic, but the basilica is back as it was.
Don't miss
• Vuolvinus's golden altar.
• The Sacellum of San Vittore in Ciel d'Oro.
• The sarcophagus of Stilicho.
• The Serpent of Moses.
• The two bell towers.
Did you know?
• According to tradition, when the bronze serpent comes down from its column it will be the end of the world.
• The "column of the devil" was used for coronations: Germanic emperors swore their oath, received the Iron Crown and then embraced the column.
• In front of the basilica, from 1886 to 2006, the "Oh bej! Oh bej!" fair was held, the Milanese Christmas market.