Crypt of San Sepolcro in Milan – Visit by lantern light

The extraordinary reopening of the Crypt of St. Sepulchre and the restorations

A guided tour in the heart of San Sepolcro. In 2016, the opening to the public of the Crypt of the Church of San Sepolcro in Milan was a big announcement for art and history lovers! A magical place, almost legendary, because of the symbolism and rituals connected to it, linked to the cult of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and therefore also to the history of the Crusades. The complex restoration work, financed by MIBAC and then completed in 2019, has allowed an extraordinary recovery of the painted surfaces of the crypt, a splendid testimony of a past all to be revealed.
In particular, the starry sky painted on the vaults of the presbytery, enriched with rosette decoration, which could be inspired by the original decoration of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, has returned to shine. Cleaning from the layers of plaster and salts, which had appeared due to high humidity, also revealed a great wealth of pictorial cycles that testify to the strong devotion to this place: the intense crucifixions, the Supper in Simon’s House, the Madonna of Loreto or the Madonna with Saints Roch and John the Baptist. Accompanied by our professional guides, we go to rediscover this hidden environment of underground Milan and its wonderful decorations: the beautiful stone capitals, all different from each other, the remains of the frescoes still visible and the very ancient marble slabs once belonging to the nearby Roman Forum.

The Lombard Middle Ages enclosed in San Sepolcro

The Crypt still exudes ancient devotional rituals, revealing, through the iconography of its decorations, the history of the Lombard Middle Ages. The very facade of the church, though rebuilt over time, seems to be defended by its two tall towers as by two knights from a distant time…
The thousand-year history of the Crypt and the Church of St. Sepulcher began around 1030, the year of the foundation of the building of worship with dedication to the Holy Trinity. Then, at the time of the Crusades, after the reconquest of Jerusalem in 1100, it was decided to devote the church to the cult of the Holy Sepulcher: the crypt, therefore, housed the copy of the Sarcophagus of Christ that is still present today, the work of one of the many Campionese masters active in the early 14th century and which – according to legend – was supposed to hold the relics of the Crusaders and the land of Jerusalem.

The crypt: a place also studied by Leonardo

Still a fundamental site of Renaissance Milan, the crypt is even studied by Leonardo da Vinci, during his stay in the city: the great Tuscan genius studied its plan and conformation, erected in the “true center of Milan,” that is, on the site, at the intersection of Cardo and Decumanus, where the Romans managed trade in ancient Mediolanum. It is fascinating to discover precisely from Leonardo’s drawings that the crypt has remained virtually intact and unchanged for so many centuries-more than a millennium of history! Formerly a place of worship dear to St. Charles Borromeo, rededicated to the public with the blessing of Card. Scola on March 12, 2016, here is another of our Milan Underground itineraries. Magic and legend will be our faithful traveling companions!

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