Description
The Church of San Marco is a large red-brick Gothic church in Brera, in the center of Milan, on the corner of Via San Marco and Via Fatebenefratelli. At 109 meters long, it is the longest in the city after the Duomo, and its history is tied to Mozart and Verdi.
The 14th-century facade, completed in the 19th century, has a rose window and three statues of saints in niches. Inside, beneath the Baroque vaults, are the Foppa Chapel, frescoed by Lomazzo around 1570, the sarcophagus of Blessed Lanfranco Settala, who founded the church in 1254, and a 14th-century Crucifixion rediscovered in 1956.
In 1770 the young Mozart stayed for three months in the rectory, as a plaque recalls, and played the church organ. On May 22, 1874, Giuseppe Verdi conducted the first performance of his Requiem here, written for the first anniversary of Alessandro Manzoni's death.
The 14th-century facade, completed in the 19th century, has a rose window and three statues of saints in niches. Inside, beneath the Baroque vaults, are the Foppa Chapel, frescoed by Lomazzo around 1570, the sarcophagus of Blessed Lanfranco Settala, who founded the church in 1254, and a 14th-century Crucifixion rediscovered in 1956.
In 1770 the young Mozart stayed for three months in the rectory, as a plaque recalls, and played the church organ. On May 22, 1874, Giuseppe Verdi conducted the first performance of his Requiem here, written for the first anniversary of Alessandro Manzoni's death.