San Babila is a Romanesque-style

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, region of Lombardy,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It was once considered the third most important in the city after the

Duomo ''Duomo'' (, ) is an Italian term for a church with the features of, or having been built to serve as, a cathedral, whether or not it currently plays this role. Monza Cathedral, for example, has never been a diocesan seat and is by definition not ...

and the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio. It is dedicated to saint

Babylas of Antioch Babylas ( el, Βαβύλας) (died 253) was a patriarch of Antioch (237–253), who died in prison during the Decian persecution. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine rite his feast day is September 4, in ...

History and Description

At the beginning of the 5th century, Marolus, the bishop of Milan, brought from Antioch to Milan relics of saints Babylas of Antioch and

Romanus of Caesarea Romanus of Caesarea (also known as Romanus of Antioch) is venerated as a martyr. A deacon of Caesarea, he was martyred at Antioch. Life In 303 or 304, at the beginning of the Diocletianic Persecution, a deacon called Romanus, served in Caesarea in ...

. Marolus founded the Basilica Concilia Sanctorum or church of San Romano, which stood until the 19th century, a few meters south of the church of San Babila, on the site of a Roman temple dedicated to the Sun. The church of San Babila was built on the same site in about 1095. In the 16th century, the church was extended with an additional construction at the front and a new baroque façade. The church still retains its original medieval fabric, although much was lost due to baroque and modern renovations. The whole complex was renovated in the 19th century with the intent of restoring the appearance of the medieval basilica, and in the early 20th century, Paolo Cesa Bianchi designed the

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

façade that we now see. Previous to 1927, the church had a

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

facade with pilasters and a protruding portal with columns and a roofline surmounted by spherical pinnacles with palm-leaves above. The bell tower is from 1920, and replaced the original tower which fell down in the 16th century. The column in front of the church dates to the 18th-century and has a lion atop, a symbol of the neighborhood. The interior has a nave and two aisles; it ends in typical multilobular semicircular Romanesque apses. There are two side chapels that date from the late Renaissance. The right aisle has an image of the Madonna which is highly venerated by the Milanese population. Inside the basilica there is a Zanin pipe organ (2008), completely made with a mechanical transmission system. The instrument, inspired by the German baroque organs, is used for liturgies and concerts. Currently, the titular organist of the basilica is Michele Zanella. Interno chiesa di san babila milano

Notes

{{Authority control 4th-century churches 9th-century churches in Italy

Babila Babila is a town and sub-prefecture in the Kouroussa Prefecture in the Kankan Region The Kankan region now has more than 6,167,904 inhabitants (2021) the most popular region of Guinea The region has five (5) prefectures (Kankan, Kérouané ...

Romanesque architecture in Milan