San Cristoforo sul Naviglio is a 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 ...

northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

History

The complex is composed of two churches. The left one is the most ancient, which is known to be a Romanesque reconstruction of a far more ancient edifice (probably in turn located on the site of a Roman templeThis hypothesis is supported by the fact that the edifices entitled to St. Cristopher, patron of the pilgrims, often replaced those of Hercules, who was also a giant.). The Romanesque edifice was again rebuilt in the 13th century, when the

Naviglio Grande The Naviglio Grande is a canal in Lombardy, northern Italy, connecting the Ticino river near Tornavento ( south of Sesto Calende) to the Porta Ticinese dock, also known as the ''Darsena'', in Milan. It drops over . It varies in width from from ...

was excavated. In the mid-14th century it received the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

portal and rose window. The Gothic church was flanked by a hospital, built around 1364. The more recent church, which currently is united to the other and gives the appearance of a single edifice, was constructed along the naviglio (navigational canal) bank in the 15th century, and then called Ducal Chapel. It was commissioned by Duke

Gian Galeazzo Visconti Gian Galeazzo Visconti (16 October 1351 – 3 September 1402), was the first duke of Milan (1395) and ruled the late-medieval city just before the dawn of the Renaissance. He also ruled Lombardy jointly with his uncle Bernabò. He was the foundi ...

in order to provide a holy edifice and dedicated to St Christopher, the protector of ill people. The intercession of St Christopher was said to have ended the onslaught of the plague during 1399, that had killed some 20,000 Milanese. The chapel was also dedicated to the Saints John the Baptist and James, Blessed Christina, all protectors of the

House of Visconti Visconti is a surname which may refer to: Italian noble families * Visconti of Milan, ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447 ** Visconti di Modrone, collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan * Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia, ruled Gallura in Sardinia from ...

. The façade sports the Visconti coat of arms, while the older church has the heraldic symbols of Cardinal Pietro Filargo, then bishop of Milan and later pope as

Alexander V Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

. In 1405 the counterfaçade of the Ducal Chapel was decorated with a ''Madonna Enthroned and Saints'' and a ''Crucifixion'' inspired by that in San Marco of Milan.

Architecture and art

The Romanesque church is a small hall ending with a small semicircular

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

. The façade has a richly decorated

brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by s ...

portal with a Gothic rose window. The façade of the Ducal Chapel has a simple portal flanked by Gothic

mullioned window A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

s, according to a model established by

Guiniforte Solari Guiniforte Solari (c. 1429 – c. 1481), also known as ''Boniforte'', was an Italian sculptor, architect and engineer. Born in Milan, he was the son of the architect Giovanni Solari, and brother of Francesco Solari. Guiniforte was chief engineer ...

, and traces of frescoes of Saints from the 15th century. The current

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

is a 15th-century enlargement of the original one, with conical cusp and mullioned windows. The interior, turned into two naves in 1625 with the demolition of the wall separating the two churches, has a wooden ceiling in the left nave with fragments of frescoes by

Bergognone Ambrogio Borgognone (variously known as ''Ambrogio da Fossano'', ''Ambrogio di Stefano da Fossano'', ''Ambrogio Stefani da Fossano'' or as ''il Bergognone'' or ''Ambrogio Egogni''

on the wall. The apse houses frescoes of

Bernardino Luini Bernardino Luini (c. 1480/82 – June 1532) was a north Italian painter from Leonardo's circle during the High Renaissance. Both Luini and Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio were said to have worked with Leonardo directly; he was described as having ...

's school, portraying the Father with Angels and the symbols of the Evangelists, and Saints. The right nave has two spans with Gothic frescoes on the walls. There is also a notable wooden statue (14th century) representing St. Christopher and the Child.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Cristoforo Sul Naviglio Churches completed in 1364 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Cristoforo sul Naviglio Gothic architecture in Milan Romanesque architecture in Milan Tourist attractions in Milan