BASILICA OF SANT'AMBROGIO

A testimony to 16 centuries of history and considered one of the most famous examples of Lombard Romanesque art, Sant'Ambrogio is the main Milanese basilica dedicated to the patron saint of the city. Built from 379 by St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, in order to deposit the bodies of the two martyrs Gervais and Protais, it will be completed much later. It will be destroyed and rebuilt many times, in particular in the 12th century and following the bombings of the Second World War. A magnificent atrium with finely carved capitals precedes the body of the building; on the façade, a bronze portal from the 18th century still displays some beautiful leaves from the 9th century.

Inside, there is a unique example of a 12th-century ambo (pulpit for the reading of sacred texts), decorated with two rare gilded copper sculptures, an eagle (symbol of St John) and an angel (symbol of St Matthew), which makes the structure unique in its kind. The ambo rests on a sarcophagus from the 1st century AD, the walls of which are entirely decorated with bas-reliefs. The gold and precious stone high altar, carved by Vuolvinius (9th century), is a fine example of medieval goldsmithing. Above it rises a ciborium with a baldachin supported by four antique columns of red porphyry. The chapel of San Vittore in Ciel d'Oro is a remarkable example of a previous early Christian building. It was commissioned at the beginning of the^5th century to house the remains of the martyr Vittore. It was incorporated into the Basilica in the 15th century and has a beautifully crafted mosaic decoration; the portrait of San Vittore is in the centre of the dome, surrounded by a garland of ears of corn and flowers, while on the walls there are several effigies of saints and bishops, including Ambrose. The crypt preserves the remains of the three saints under a 19th century glass case. There is also a small museum of the Treasury where you can admire a beautiful collection of liturgical pieces from the basilica. At the end of the nave, on the left, an exit gives access to the harmonious portico of Bramante and to the small Romanesque chapel of San Sigismondo. Curiosity, in the square of the church, there is a strange white marble column with two small holes, known as the "devil's column". It is said that the devil, desperate not to have succeeded in dragging Saint Ambrose into sin, would have blown his horn into the column...