A church meant to celebrate the love between Francesco Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti. Known as “the twin church”, it was built in two phases. The oldest part dates back to Francesco Sforza’s crowning as Duke of Milan and to his marriage to the last of the Visconti, Bianca Maria.  Nine years after the bouquet toss, Bianca Maria asked her husband to add another identical façade to the church in order to publicly declare her love and loyalty to him.

The church is at the end of Corso Como and its steps are often occupied by children playing or old women begging for some change. After having observed the lack of differences between one façade and the other, and having mentally complimented the architects, head to the first chapel on the left, where you will find a Bergognone’s fresco, dating back to 1480, portraying Jesus while carrying the cross and four doctors collecting his blood. The fresco was covered during the Visconti era because it was considered inappropriate and was rediscovered only in the ‘30s. Another treasure hidden for centuries is the humanistic library of the church, one of the eight libraries of this kind in Italy and probably the only one painted.

Additional information:

Corso Garibaldi, 116, Milano, MI, Italia