OUR HISTORY, FROM THE LATE FOURTH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT.

The venerated burial site of St Ambrose, the Basilica has witnessed more than sixteen centuries of the life of Milan and its people.

Fourth Century

From the Foundation to the Burial of Ambrose: The Roots of Milanese Identity

In 374, Ambrose, an official of the Roman Empire, was elected bishop of Milan by the populace.
In the spring of 386, the bishop found the bodies of the young Milanese martyrs Protasius and Gervasius outside the gates of the old basilica of Nabore e Felice and had them translated to the new church, which took the name Basilica Martyrum (basilica of the martyrs).
The church, construction of which had begun in 379, was built on the vast necropolis outside the city walls, where other monumental tombs could already be found, including that of St Victor (now the sacellum of San Vittore in Ciel d’oro). As reported by Ambrose himself, the Milanese immediately began to call the church the ‘Ambrosian Basilica’, and the bishop himself chose it as his final resting place. Ambrose died in the night between 3 and 4 April 397 and was buried to the left of the bodies of Protasius and Gervasius.
From the Eighth to the Thirteenth Century

MONKS, CANONS AND THEIR TWO TOWERS: THE BASILICA DURING THE MIDDLE AGES

Over the centuries, the Basilica, which immediately became a pilgrim destination, grew in importance amongst the other Milan churches. In 784, the archbishop of Milan, Pietro, founded a Benedictine monastery dedicated to the saints Protasius, Gervasius and Ambrose next to the Basilica. The new monastic community was part of the spiritual and political project advanced by Charlemagne and flanked that of the priests who already served the Basilica. Between 824 and 859, the archbishop of Milan, Angilbert II, commissioned the magister phaber Volvinus to create a splendid golden altar to contain the remains of the saints. The reconstruction of the church (atrium and bell tower of the monks), where a few members of Charlemagne’s family were buried, was carried out at the same time.
Between the end of the tenth century and the beginning of the eleventh, the group of officiating priests organised themselves into a chapter of canons. From this point forward, the history of the Basilica, the two communities (the monks and canons) and their disputes were closely intertwined for the rest of the Middle Ages. Between the end of the eleventh century and the beginning of the twelfth, the Basilica was entirely rebuilt in the Romanesque style. In 1128, Archbishop Anselm V granted the canons permission to build a second bell tower to the left of the Basilica’s facade. In 1162, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa laid siege to Milan, destroying the city. The canons were forced into exile in the quarter of Porta Vercellina, while the monks remained to watch over the monastery and Basilica. 1201 marked the end of the first major phase of disputes between canons and monks over the division of the offerings, custody of the golden altar, use of the bell towers and issues tied to pastoral care.
THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES

HUMANISM AND THE RENAISSANCE AT SANT’AMBROGIO: FROM PETRARCH TO BRAMANTE

During his period in Milan (1353–1361), Petrarch studied the precious medieval manuscripts containing Ambrose’s texts and, in a letter to his friend Francesco Nelli, described the stucco tondo with a portrait of the saint. Reviving the tradition of royal coronations from the middle of the medieval period, Gian Galeazzo Visconti was named duke of Milan by the envoy of Emperor Wenceslaus on 5 September 1395. In 1431, Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg was crowned king of Italy in Sant’Ambrogio and granted the church the title of Imperial Basilica.
In the second half of the fifteenth century, the church, clergy house and monastery underwent a major expansion. In 1477, the monumental tomb of the Milanese humanist Pier Candido Decembrio and the Oratorio della Passione were built. On 19 September 1492, Donato Bramante, commissioned by Ludovico il Moro, began work on the reconstruction of the clergy house of Sant’Ambrogio, the monumental portal and the chapels of the Basilica and the monastery. In 1497, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza replaced the Benedictine community with Cistercian monks from Chiaravalle.
FROM THE SIXTEENTH TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

TRANSFORMATIONS AND REVOLUTIONS: FROM SAN CARLO TO NAPOLEON

In 1566, San Carlo Borromeo (1538–1584) made the first pastoral visit to Sant’Ambrogio and worked to bring the Basilica and the chapter of canons into line with the new norms laid out by the Council of Trent (1545–1563). In 1590, the audacious theft of three panels gravely damaged the golden altar, which was restored a few years later. In 1630, the disputes between the monks and canons were brought to an end by an agreement ratified by Urban VIII. In 1631, the archbishop of Milan Federico Borromeo (1564–1631) launched the repair of the Basilica’s atrium, restoring its Romanesque appearance.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the church was decorated in the Baroque style. In 1737, the monks commissioned Giambattista Tiepolo to paint a series of frescoes in the Basilica. After the French Revolution, the suppression of the monasteries decreed the end of the Cistercian monastery in 1797 and the chapter of canons in 1798. The only survivor was the Parish of Sant’Ambrogio, which was officially created in 1787.
THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES

DISCOVERIES AND RENOVATIONS: FROM THE NINETEENTH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT

In 1857, the parish priest Monsignor Francesco Maria Rossi launched a major restoration project that entailed returning the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio to the ‘old style’, work on which continued until the early twentieth century. Between 1871 and 1874, the porphyry tomb containing the remains of the saints was found and the relics of Ambrose, Protasius and Gervasius were officially recognised. In 1897, a new crypt with a glass and silver urn for the saints, funded by Milan’s leading families, was inaugurated.
In 1904, Pius X granted the parish priest of Sant’Ambrogio the title of ‘mitred abbot’, in memory of the old,suppressed monastery. During World War I, the golden altar was moved for its safety to the Vatican in 1917 and was returned to the Basilica three years later. Sant’Ambrogio instead suffered major damage during World War II: in August 1943, Allied bombing caused the collapse of the apse and destroyed the clergy house. Protected by sandbags, the ciborium survived intact. The golden altar was also unharmed, having been moved to the Vatican again. In 1949, the architect Ferdinando Reggiori completed the restoration of the Basilica and monumental complex, and inaugurated its first museum, the Museo di Sant’Ambrogio.