Italy Guide
Lombardy and the lakes
San Lorenzo alle Colonne
Address: Corso Ticinese
Towards the northern end of Corso Ticinese stands San Lorenzo alle Colonne, considered by Leonardo da Vinci to be the most beautiful church in Milan. It is indeed a graceful building with a quiet dignity, somewhat at odds with the skateboarding and partying that goes on in the piazza outside. One of the four churches founded by Sant'Ambrogio in the city in the fourth century, it was built with masonry salvaged from various Roman buildings. The sixteen Corinthian columns outside – the Colonne di San Lorenzo – were placed here as a portico to the church. To the right of the altar, the Cappella di San Aquilino (daily 7.30am–6pm; €2) was probably built as an imperial mausoleum. The lunettes in the Roman octagonal room hold beautiful fourth-century mosaics, which would originally have covered all the walls, while beneath the relics of St Aquilino steps lead down to what is left of the original foundations, a jigsaw of fragments of Roman architecture.