The basilica of San Vincenzo in Prato is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located in Via Daniele Crespi 6, in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, region of Lombardy,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. 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. De ...

in 770, who dedicated it to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. 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 Abundius (also Abondius, Abundias, or Abbondio; early fifth century – 469), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Abundius, was a bishop of Como, Northern Italy. Biography Abundius was born at Thessalonica. Around 448 Abundius became the ...

. The name ''in Prato'' derives from its location in the "pratum" (in the field) area owned by bishop Odelpertus. In 806 a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

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

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. , 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 Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

, 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 Vigevano (; ) is a (municipality) in the province of Pavia, in the Italian region of Lombardy. A historic art town, it is also renowned for shoemaking and is one of the main centres of Lomellina, a rice-growing agricultural district. Vigevano ...

probably dedicated to

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, which was located within a Roman

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

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

References

Gallery

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

External links

Page on medieval art in Italy

Milano - Battistero S.Vincenzo in Prato
A short documentary about the Basilica from ''chiesadimilano.it'' site {{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 770 establishments Churches completed in the 770s

History

Architecture

See also

References

Gallery

External links