Did you know that on the Navigli there is a small church immersed in tranquility? The church of San Cristoforo in Milan!
San Cristoforo is a striking complex consisting of two small churches side by side and stands on the route that led to Milan from the Lomellina, at an obligatory crossing point in the network of various waterways. The peculiarity of this little church is the fact that it is composed of two buildings belonging to different eras: the older one, decidedly Romanesque with a lot of terracotta rose window, the other, the one on the right, closed by an ogival arch and guarded by the Visconti and Milanese coats of arms, since it was the Ducal Chapel commissioned by Gian Galeazzo Visconti after the terrible plague of 1399.
The church is dedicated to St. Christopher, protector of wayfarers and pilgrims who set out on adventurous journeys of risk and danger. Today, St. Christopher is entrusted with, just think, motorists against misfortunes and road dangers!
San Cristoforo: a little treasure on the Navigli.
Ancient narratives attest to the affection of the Milanese for the church of San Cristoforo in Milan, which was originally a simple chapel covered by two gabled pitches. It even seems that in this very church, in 1176, the first announcement of the defeat of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa at Legnano by the Lombard League was made to the Milanese.
The facade of the Ducal Chapel, which according to the Milanese taste of the period lingers in the preservation of elegant late Gothic artistic models, features a portal flanked by two tall single-lancet windows and surmounted by the Visconti and Milanese coats of arms. The remains of frescoes still legible hint at the rich polychrome decoration and iconographic vividness with which the complex presented itself to the wayfarer or pilgrim in the centuries of its splendor. The interior is partitioned into two bays with cross vaults.
Think about the fact that grafted onto the back of the sacristy is the so-called “chapel of the dead,” built at the time of the plague described by the Manzoni, during which, resuming its ancient vocation, the complex of St. Christopher served as a Lazaretto.
The Legend of the Saint and its mysteries
According to legend, before he was a Christian, St. Christopher Martyr was named Offerus and was a strong giant with a dull mind. Offerus had a dream: to meet and serve the greatest king on earth. When he set out, he found a very powerful king who welcomed him into his court. But one day, it turned out that the king was afraid of the devil. So Offerus thought that he could not remain in the service of someone he feared and chose to leave the court to become a servant of the devil. He crossed the desert and met a mysterious man who said he was the devil and followed him, but it turned out that this man was afraid of Christ; Offerus abandoned him and set out again to seek Christ to serve him.
Having finally reached a hermit, Offerus asked him where he could meet Christ, and the hermit replied, “anywhere,” provided he prayed, watched and fasted. Offerus, however, could only rely on his own strength, certainly not on these practices. The hermit then tested him several times. At the end of the trials he baptized him, telling him, “From today you shall be called Christopher, that is, bearer of Christ.”
And from that day on, Christopher set out again to teach the word of Christ.
