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One of four great basilicas built by St Ambrose in the 4th century (and finished by its namesake in 401) is popularly dedicated to the Anaunia Martyrs (see Northern Milan). The external walls are mostly original; the interior was renovated in the 11th and 12th centuries, and frescoed with a rainbow of angels and a Coronation of the Virgin by Bergog-none in 1515. There are also patches of a late 14th-century fresco in a chapel off the choir.

Originally a modest Greek-cross church of 1486–1530, it was elongated with a massive nave and deep chapel niches in 1573 to make it the second largest church in Milan. Its interior is dominated by the work of Daniele Crespi: a portrait of San Carlo in the first chapel on the left, most of the Passion series below the cupola at the crossing, the organ doors and throughout the Museo della Basilica (a series of rooms that open to the right of the altar).

Leonardo’s extraordinary fresco of the Last Supper adorns a wall of the convent refectory (see Leonardo’s Last Supper) and is of course the chief attraction of this church. Other features include a magnificent Renaissance tribune, possibly designed by Bramante, who did the cloister and probably the main portal, too.

The name reflecting its proximity to the abutting Romanesque church of San Celso, this Renaissance church shot up with remarkable speed between 1493 and 1506. Its most alluring aspect is the cloister-like court before the entrance, designed by Cesare Cesarino and considered one of the best examples of early 16th-century architecture in Milan.

Brilliant Renaissance architect Bramante knew the only way to squeeze a Greek cross look into a space that only allowed room for a Latin cross was to concoct a layering of stuccoes, shallow angled niches and frescoes behind the altar to give the optical illusion of a barrel-vaulted presbytery. Another notable feature of this church is a 1483 Pietà group by Lombard sculptor Agostino De’ Fondutis (see Churches).

The chapels opening off the right side of this ancient church were added between the 11th and 13th centuries, and frescoed in the 1300s and 1400s – Bergognone provided the triptych in the first one. The immense and impressive Arc of St Peter Martyr in the magnificent Portinari Chapel (see Sant’Eustorgio, Milan) was carved by Balduccio.

The founder of the Forza Italia party survived bribery scandals to serve as prime minister in 1994 and from 2001.

Milan’s bishop put down the Arian heresy and helped establish Church autonomy.

St Ambrose’s star pupil – an African-born philosopher.