The basilica of San Vincenzo in Prato is a

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 let ...

church located in Via Daniele Crespi 6, 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 ...

, 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 ...

. The church maintains most of its original Palaeo-Christian appearance.

History

The first church was founded by the Lombard king

Desiderius Desiderius, also known as Daufer or Dauferius (born – died ), was king of the Lombards in northern Italy, ruling from 756 to 774. The Frankish king of renown, Charlemagne, married Desiderius's daughter and subsequently conquered his realm. Des ...

in 770, who dedicated it to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

. Later it was entitled to

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

, when the latter's relics were found in an urn in the crypt, together with those of St. Quirinus and St. Nicomedes (859) and St. Abundius. The name ''in Prato'' derives from its location in the "pratum" (in the field) area owned by bishop Odelpertus. In 806 a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

convent was added to the church; in the late years of the same century and in the early tenth century the deteriorating church was rebuilt, but with similar appearance. The octagonal

baptistery In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptism ...

on the exterior, on the left, was built by architect Paolo Mezzanotte in year 1932, and includes a column-shaped font called ''Pietra santa'' (the Saint Stone) coming from the ancient church of S. Nazaro in Pietra Santa, which was demolished in year 1889 during the construction of the new Via Dante.Monastero di S. Vincenzo in Prato
frin ''Lombardia Beni Culturali'', pdf document The convent was suppressed in 1520 and in 1598 the church was restored and turned into a parish.

Architecture

The basilica measures c. 40 x 20 m, and is in brickwork. The interior is on a nave and two aisles with wooden spans ceiling. The columns are from different ages. The elevated choir ends with a large apse. Under the presbytery is the

crypt A crypt (from Latin '' crypta'' " vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a c ...

, which has also a nave and two aisles divided by ten small columns with sculpted capitals. San Vincenzo lies on the founding of a Roman temple or oratory built along the way to Vigevano probably dedicated to

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...

, which was located within a Roman

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

(of which some remains are visible in the external left walls of the church).

References

External links

Page on medieval art in Italy

Milano - Battistero S.Vincenzo in Prato
A short documentary about the Basilica from ''chiesadimilano.it'' site

Gallery

File:Porta San Vincenzo in Prato, Milano.jpg, The portal by

Geminiano Cibau Geminiano is a municipality in the state of Piauí in the Northeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Piauí This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Piauí (PI), located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. Pi ...

File:San Vincenzo in Prato Milano interno della chiesa.jpg, View of the interior File:San Vincezo in prato Milano cripta.jpg, The crypt File:Capitello cripta San Vincenzo in Prato Milano.jpg, A capital in the crypt File:Battistero San Vincenzo in Prato Milan, Italy.jpg, The external baptistery File:Pietrasanta battistero San Vincenzo in Prato, Milano.jpg, The saint stone coming from San Nazaro in Pietrasanta {{DEFAULTSORT:San Vincenzo In Prato 8th-century churches in Italy 900 Vincenzo al Prato Palaeo-Christian architecture in Italy 8th-century establishments in Italy Tourist attractions in Milan 10th-century churches in Italy Churches completed in 770