Basilica di Santo Stefano Maggiore 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 ...

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 established in the 5th century. Originally dedicated to both Saint Zechariah and

Saint Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

, it was later dedicated to Saint Stephen only. Throughout its history, has undergone several reconstructions, expansion and restoration. It is also called ''St. Stephen in Brolo'' (the historical name of the area) or ''St. Stephen's Gate'' (in reference to the postern of Santo Stefano, now no longer exists).

History and Description

The original church building was built around the year 417 on the initiative of the future bishop

Martinianus Martinian ( la, Martinianus; died in 325) was Roman emperor from July to September 324. He was raised to the purple by the emperor Licinius, whom he had hitherto served as a senior bureaucrat, during Licinius's civil war against the emperor Cons ...

. It was destroyed by fire in 1070 and it was rebuilt in

romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...

in 1075. On 26 December 1476 it was the site of the assassination of Duke

Galeazzo Maria Sforza Galeazzo Maria Sforza (24 January 1444 – 26 December 1476) was the fifth Duke of Milan from 1466 until his assassination a decade later. He was notorious for being lustful, cruel, and tyrannical. He was born to Francesco Sforza, a popula ...

, who had come to the basilica for the celebration of the patron saint. On 30 September 1571 in Santo Stefano was baptized the painter Michelangelo Merisi, better known as

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

. This fact was confirmed by the discovery in February 2007 of baptismal certificate of the painter. Since 1594 the church underwent a series of interventions, including: *enlargement of the

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 ...

and of the main altar (early 17th century) *lengthening of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and reconstruction of the facade (mid 17th century) *after the collapse in 1642, reconstruction of the

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 ...

by the architect Gerolamo Quadrio from

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

(late 17th century) *building of the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

(early 18th century ) *modernization of some chapels (early 19th century ) The church preserved the bodies of saints

, Ausanus and Mansuetus, archbishops of Milan, in 1988

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

to the

Milan Cathedral Milan Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Milano ; lmo, Domm de Milan ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary ( it, Basilica cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria Nascente, links=no), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombard ...

. St.

Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat a ...

also translated here the bodies of saints Leo, Arsazius, Marinus, Mammes and Agapetus.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephan, Milan Basilica churches in Milan 5th-century establishments in Italy Tourist attractions in Milan Baroque architecture in Milan