- San Babila
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Church of Saint Babylas of Antioch
(Chiesa di San Babila)
Façade of the church
Basic information Location Milan, Italy Geographic coordinates Coordinates: 45°28′01″N 9°11′54″E / 45.467017°N 9.198376°E Affiliation Roman Catholic Province Milan Year consecrated 9c Status Active Website Sito ufficiale Architectural description Architectural type Church Architectural style Romanesque Revival Groundbreaking 19c San Babila is a church in Milan, northern Italy.[1] It was once considered the third most important in the city after the Duomo and the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio. It is dedicated to saint Babylas of Antioch.
At the beginning of the 5th century, the bishop of Milan Marolus probably took in Milan from Antioch the relics of saints Babylas of Antioch and Romanus of Caesarea, and he founded a church in Milan known as Basilica Concilia Sanctorum or church of San Romano, which stood until the 19th century a few meters south the church of San Babila,[2] over a pre-existing Roman temple dedicated to the Sun.
The church of San Babila was erected in the same complex in about 1095.[2] In the 16th century, the church was prolonged with the addition of a further frontal section, and a new Baroque façade.
The whole complex was renovated in the 19th century with the intent of restoring the forms of the Medieval basilica, and in the early 20th century the Neo-Romanesque façade by Paolo Cesa-Bianchi was built. The bell tower is from 1920, a replacement of the original one, crumbled down in the 16th century.
The interior has a nave and two aisles. Nothing of the original edifice has remained after the restoration and reconstruction carried on in the following centuries. The two side chapels are from Late Renaissance. The right aisle has an image of the Madonna which is highly venerated by the Milanese population.
Notes
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b Tolfo, Maria Grazia. "L'area sacra di Porta Orientale". Storia di Milano. http://www.storiadimilano.it/citta/Porta_Orientale/area_sacra.htm. Retrieved 25 Sept 2011.(Italian)
Categories:- Churches in Milan
- 9th-century architecture
- 4th-century church buildings
- Romanesque Revival architecture in Italy
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