Underground Milan – The hidden archaeological areas

From below Piazza Duomo to discover underground Milan

This guided tour of the Milan Underground will reveal to you an archaeological Milan rich in stories and treasures rooted back in time to the first stone laid at the city’s foundation. Our guided tour will take you to discover Milan as seen from underground, descending a few meters below Piazza Duomo. Here, four meters below the cathedral forecourt, there is one of the city’s oldest archaeological complexes, the nucleus of early Milanese Christianity. Walking among the remains of the ancient Roman underground streets of underground Milan, our professional guides will show you what remains of the marvelous octagonal building that constituted the Baptistery of San Giovanni alle Fonti, built in about 378 and the place where St. Ambrose baptized Augustine of Hippo, the one who would later become St. Augustine. A little further on, following the traces of the remains of the opus sectile pavement, there will appear traces of two apses of the early Christian Basilica of Santa Tecla, dating from the mid-4th century AD. But Milano Sotterranea does not end here, there are other places where you can continue your visit with two different routes all to be discovered!

San Giovanni in Conca: Milan’s only Romanesque crypt.

To continue the tour by fully immersing ourselves in the typical Lombard Romanesque style, we will once again immerse ourselves in the history of underground Milan by visiting the Crypt of San Giovanni in Conca, in Piazza Missori. The exterior, with the remains of the early Christian basilica of San Giovanni in Conca in the middle of a busy intersection, are nothing compared to the spectacle that lies hidden underground. Our licensed tour guides will lead you to discover the arches of Milan‘s only existing Romanesque crypt. With a little imagination you can picture what must have once been one of the most important religious complexes in Milan. And if you happen to pass by Via Francesco Sforza, notice the facade of the Waldensian church. That was the original facade of the basilica of San Giovanni in Conca.

San Sepolcro: an underground crypt in the very center of Milan

A few steps from the Duomo, just below the Ambrosiana complex, hides one of Milan’s jewels: it is the Crypt of San Sepolcro. This place stands exactly where the Roman forum once stood, thus in a very central location, so much so that centuries later Leonardo da Vinci wrote that the Crypt of San Sepolcro was “in the very middle of Milan.” The very stones of the forum are still visible and walkable today, and it was on them that the city’s most important figures walked, from the Roman emperors to St. Charles Borromeo, who loved to take refuge and retreat here. Moreover, the Crypt of St. Sepulchre is not only a true witness of Milan’s history, but also preserves inside it an incredible painted starry sky full of meaning.

Thanks to this guided tour of underground Milan, we are sure that as you walk through the streets of the city, you will remember how much history lies just a few meters beneath your feet, imagining how many more will walk those same streets and places in the future.