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Milan and the Lakes : Sant’Ambrogio

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Sant’Ambrogio

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  • One of Milan’s oldest basilicas (founded by St Ambrose in 379) served as a model for most of the city’s early medieval churches. It was enlarged in the 9th century, and what we see today dates largely from 1080 (albeit with later reconstructions). It instantly became Milan’s most beloved house of worship when the wildly popular (and future patron saint) Ambrose was buried here in 397. Everything is well signposted in Italian and English.

Top 10 Highlights
  • 1. Atrium

    The first clue that this church is something apart is the lovely, elongated atrium between the entrance and the church, built from 1088 to 1099 using columns with 6th-century capitals depicting fantastical scenes.

  • 2. Façade

    The austere but balanced façade consists of five arches fitted under the peaked roof line. It is flanked by two mismatched towers: the Monks’ Tower on the right from the 9th century and the Canons’ Tower on the left from 1144.

  • 3. Serpent Column

    Just on the inside of the third pier on the left stands a short column topped by a curlicue of a bronze serpent, a 10th-century Byzantine work (although local legend says it’s the serpent cast by Moses).

  • 4. Bergognone’s Redeemer

    This limpid, late 15th-century Renaissance scene of the Risen Christ was originally positioned on the wall to the right of the altar (where its painted trompe-l’oeil architecture was far more suited). It was later removed and placed in the first chapel on the left.

  • 5. Sarcophagus of Stilicho

    This late Roman-era sarcophagus preceded the pulpit (No. 6) built around it. The tomb is aligned with the original walls, while the pulpit is aligned with the nave.

  • 6. Pulpit

    This composite of 11th- and early 12th-century Romanesque relief panels was rescued after the church ceiling collapsed in 1196 and reconstructed into this magnificent pulpit.

  • 7. Golden Altar

    A master goldsmith, Volvinio, crafted the “golden altar” in 835. The Life of Christ is in gold leaf on the front, and the Life of St Ambrose in gilded silver on the back.

  • 8. Ciborium

    This altar canopy sits at the centre of the presbytery. Its four ancient Roman columns support a canopy of four 10th-century Lombard polychrome stucco reliefs.

  • 9. Apse Mosaics

    The vast, colourful mosaic depicting Christ Pantocrater was largely pieced together between the 4th and 8th centuries, though bits were touched up or redone between the 17th and 20th centuries, especially after a 1943 bombing tore away half of Christ and the Archangel on the left.

  • 10. Sacello di San Vittore in Ciel d’Oro

    Sant’Ambrogio was built next to a Paleochristian cemetery and a chapel decorated in the 5th century with a glittering dome of almost solid gold mosaics. The basilica grew to include the chapel and its ancient mosaics.

Practical Information
The best of the more portable objects formerly in the church treasury and small museum are now displayed in the Museo Diocesano. Walk northwest to the fabulous Art Nouveau café/pub Bar Magenta at Via Carducci 13 (see Bar Magenta, Milan). Piazza Sant’Ambrogio 15, Milan 02-8645-0895, 7am–noon, 3–7pm Mon–Sat, 7am–1pm, 3–8pm Sun; free San Vittore in Ciel d’Oro 9:30am–11:45pm, 2:30–6pm daily; church free, museum adm €2
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