Description
The Church of San Babila is the brick Romanesque basilica that gives its name to the square where Corso Vittorio Emanuele, Corso Venezia and Corso Monforte meet, in the center of Milan. From outside it looks entirely medieval, but the facade dates from 1905; the church itself goes back to the late 11th century.
The interior has three aisles on piers, with an octagonal lantern tower in front of the presbytery. Take a close look at the original 11th-century capitals, similar to those of Sant'Ambrogio, and the apse mosaic by Luigi Cavenaghi, from 1890, showing Saint Babylas and the three boys martyred with him.
In the baptistery there is a bronze high relief of the Baptism of Christ by Fausto Melotti.
Tradition has it that the church stands on an ancient temple of the Sun. In 1848, during the Five Days, the uprising started right here, with the Milanese marching toward the government palace on Corso Monforte.
The interior has three aisles on piers, with an octagonal lantern tower in front of the presbytery. Take a close look at the original 11th-century capitals, similar to those of Sant'Ambrogio, and the apse mosaic by Luigi Cavenaghi, from 1890, showing Saint Babylas and the three boys martyred with him.
In the baptistery there is a bronze high relief of the Baptism of Christ by Fausto Melotti.
Tradition has it that the church stands on an ancient temple of the Sun. In 1848, during the Five Days, the uprising started right here, with the Milanese marching toward the government palace on Corso Monforte.