Milan is a container of beauties, a accord of history and culture. Here, among streets and squares, ancient treasures are hidden. In the heart of the ancient city, a few steps from Piazza Duomo, is the Crypt of San Sepolcro. From 21 August until 30 September it will be open to visitors with a magnificent multimedia itinerary signed by Michelangelo Antonioni and with an entrance ticket with a promotional price.
The Church of San Sepolcro in Milan
The Church came erected on the ancient Roman forum in 1030 thanks to Magister Monetae Benedetto Ronzone and consecrated to the Holy Trinity by Archbishop Ariberto d'Intimiano. Rebuilt after the first crusade, it was consecrated again in 1100 with the name of the Holy Sepulcher by the archbishop of Milan Anselmo da Bovisio. He dedicates it to Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem it is explained and strengthened both by the importance assumed in those years by the holy places and by the presence of the copy of sepulcher of Christ. The architectural complex has undergone various alterations over the years. The internal restructuring of the church in Baroque style is done by Aurelio Trezzi and the facade in Lombard Romanesque style, on the other hand, the work of Gaetano Moretti and Cesare Nava.
The Crypt
La Crypt of San Sepolcro, a place of imposing sacredness, was reopened in 2016 after fifty years of closure. It has been a center of worship and prayer by prominent personalities. San Carlo Bartolomeo apostrophe as the navel of the city of Milan e Leonardo Da Vinci represented the plan (both of the upper church and of the lower church) in a famous map of Codex Atlanticus. San Sepolcro, for the Italian genius, was the center of the city already in Roman times, at the exact crossing point between Cardo and the Decumano. By visiting the Crypt, it is possible view the ancient map, thanks to an ancient publication of 1930 by the then Prefect Giovanni Galbiati.
Discovering the Crypt of San Sepolcro
San Sepolcro is a suggestive place, a place of devotion and historical testimony. One of the oldest in the city and which has counted 70.000 visitors since its opening. The pavement is made up of slabs of white stone (called Verona) coming from the pavement of the ancient Roman forum. In one of the niches it is possible to admire a large copper palm, a symbol of wisdom and built in 1616 by Gian Andrea Biffi and Gerolamo Olivieri at the behest of Cardinal Federico Borromeo. Some curiosities: the Church of San Sepolcro is a place of devotion that is linked to and is also dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. In fact, according to the evangelist John, it was she who discovered the empty tomb on Easter morning. His image is taken up in a fresco of 1300 in the left transept.
Some of the rites of the Catholic world still present, were born in this church. Such as the Quarantore; devotional practice consisting in the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for forty continuous hours. And again, the custom of lighting the Paschal Candle with the fire coming from San Sepolcro. Or even the term "darkening“, Which, in Lombard regional Italian, means underground crypt in a church.
Timetables and useful info
Official website , here
From 21 August to 30 September.
From Monday to Friday from 17.00 to 21.00. On Saturdays and Sundays, however, from 15:00 to 22.00. Friday and Saturday night visits at 22.00pm and 23.00pm.
Entrance fee: € 7 (normally the ticket is € 10). With the purchase of the ticket you contribute to the major restoration works that await the Crypt of San Sepolcro in Milan.
