Description
The Colonne di San Lorenzo (Columns of San Lorenzo) are sixteen Roman columns in a row in front of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, just past Porta Ticinese: one of the rare remains of imperial Milan still in place, and one of the Milanese's most beloved views.
They are made of marble, about seven and a half meters tall, with Corinthian capitals that carry the entablature. In the middle is an arch, with a small column on top bearing a cross.
They look as if they have always been here, but they were not born here. They come from Roman buildings of the second or third century, perhaps a pagan temple in the area of today's Piazza Santa Maria Beltrade, and were brought here to complete the Basilica of San Lorenzo.
And it shows: the capitals come from two different buildings and are not all alike. A layer of bricks was added to the shorter ones, to level them with the others.
The colonnade as we know it was assembled in the Middle Ages, between the eleventh and twelfth centuries, when the brick parts of the architrave and the arch with the cross were added.
Don't miss, leaning against the basilica, the Chapel of Sant'Aquilino, with its mosaics from Roman times.
The square in front of the columns is young. Until 1935 a whole block of public housing stood between the columns and the church: it was torn down to give the basilica more breathing room and monumentality.
In its place, in 1937, the bronze statue of Emperor Constantine was set up, a modern copy of a late-antique original kept in Rome: Constantine is the emperor of the edict that in 313 brought freedom of worship to Milan.
For the Milanese the columns have a sentimental value: they are the most visible trace of ancient Mediolanum, which survived the Goths, Barbarossa and the bombings of World War II.
The tram tracks run across the square, moved in the 1990s beyond the columns. Around it is one of the liveliest neighborhoods in the city, with bars, shops and the basilica with its chapels and towers.
They are made of marble, about seven and a half meters tall, with Corinthian capitals that carry the entablature. In the middle is an arch, with a small column on top bearing a cross.
They look as if they have always been here, but they were not born here. They come from Roman buildings of the second or third century, perhaps a pagan temple in the area of today's Piazza Santa Maria Beltrade, and were brought here to complete the Basilica of San Lorenzo.
And it shows: the capitals come from two different buildings and are not all alike. A layer of bricks was added to the shorter ones, to level them with the others.
The colonnade as we know it was assembled in the Middle Ages, between the eleventh and twelfth centuries, when the brick parts of the architrave and the arch with the cross were added.
Don't miss, leaning against the basilica, the Chapel of Sant'Aquilino, with its mosaics from Roman times.
The square in front of the columns is young. Until 1935 a whole block of public housing stood between the columns and the church: it was torn down to give the basilica more breathing room and monumentality.
In its place, in 1937, the bronze statue of Emperor Constantine was set up, a modern copy of a late-antique original kept in Rome: Constantine is the emperor of the edict that in 313 brought freedom of worship to Milan.
For the Milanese the columns have a sentimental value: they are the most visible trace of ancient Mediolanum, which survived the Goths, Barbarossa and the bombings of World War II.
The tram tracks run across the square, moved in the 1990s beyond the columns. Around it is one of the liveliest neighborhoods in the city, with bars, shops and the basilica with its chapels and towers.