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San Giovanni in Conca

 

 
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San Giovanni in Conca
 
 
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San Giovanni in Conca is a crypt
Crypt

In terms of European architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a church usually used as a chapel or burial vault possibly containing sarcophagus, coffins or relics....
 of a former basilica church in Milan
Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
, northern Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
. It is now located in the centre of Piazza Missori.

basilica of San Giovanni in Conca dates from the 4th century AD, and was located in a residential quarter of the ancient city
Mediolanum

Mediolanum, the ancient Milan, was an important Celts and then Ancient Rome centre of northern Italy. This article charts the history of the city from its settlement by the Insubres around 600 BC, through its conquest by the Ancient Rome and its development into a key centre of Western Christianity and capital of the Western Roman Empire, un...
. Remains of the mosaic pavement of this original edifice are now in the Arhcaeological Museum of Milan.

The church was rebuilt in the 11th century, but was destroyed by Frederick Barbarossa's troops in 1162.






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San Giovanni in Conca is a crypt
Crypt

In terms of European architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a church usually used as a chapel or burial vault possibly containing sarcophagus, coffins or relics....
 of a former basilica church in Milan
Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
, northern Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
. It is now located in the centre of Piazza Missori.

History

The basilica of San Giovanni in Conca dates from the 4th century AD, and was located in a residential quarter of the ancient city
Mediolanum

Mediolanum, the ancient Milan, was an important Celts and then Ancient Rome centre of northern Italy. This article charts the history of the city from its settlement by the Insubres around 600 BC, through its conquest by the Ancient Rome and its development into a key centre of Western Christianity and capital of the Western Roman Empire, un...
. Remains of the mosaic pavement of this original edifice are now in the Arhcaeological Museum of Milan.

The church was rebuilt in the 11th century, but was destroyed by Frederick Barbarossa's troops in 1162. It was again reconstructed in the 13th century and later became the private chapel of the Visconti
House of Visconti

Visconti was the family name of two important Italy nobility dynasties of the Middle Ages. Two distinct Visconti families are known: the first one in the Republic of Pisa in the mid twelfth century, who achieved prominence first in Pisa, then in Sardinia, where they became rulers of Giudicato of Gallura; the second and most important one ros...
 rulers of Milan. Bernabò Visconti
Bernabo Visconti

File:Visconti, Barnab?.jpgBernab? Visconti was an Italian soldier and statesman, who was Lord of Milan.He was born in Milan, the son of Stefano Visconti and Valentina Doria....
 had it connected to his new grandiose palace through a super-elevated walk, and was buried here in a monument by Bonino da Campione
Bonino da Campione

Bonino da Campione was an Italian sculptor in the Gothic art style, active between 1350 and 1390.His name indicates that he was born in - or into a family originating in - Campione d'Italia, a Lombardy town in an enclave within Switzerland....
 which is now in the Sforzesco Castle together with that of his consort, Regina della Scala
Scaliger

The noble family of the Scaliger were Lords of Verona. When Ezzelino IV was elected podest? of the commune in 1226, he was able to convert the office into a permanent lordship....
.

In 1531 Duke Francesco II Sforza
Francesco II Sforza

Francesco II Sforza , also known as Francesco Maria Sforza, was the last Duke of Milan from 1521 until his death.He was the son of Ludovico Sforza and Beatrice d'Este....
 donated it to the Carmelites
Carmelites

The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Roman Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, whence the order receives its name....
, who erected a campanile which was utilized as astronomical observatory in the 19th century. The church was deconsecrated by the Austria
Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
ns and closed by the French in the late 18th century. In 1879 the church was shortened to allow the construction of the current Via Mazzini; in the occasion, the Gothic façade was attached to the apse. San Giovanni in Conca was then sold to the Waldensians
Waldensians

Waldensians, Waldenses or Vaudois are names for a Christian spiritual movement of the later Middle Ages, descendants of which still exist in various regions....
 who, when the church was demolished (1949), rebuilt the façade on their new church in Via Francesco Sforza. Works of demolition were however halted just before their end, leaving only the crypt and remains of the apse.

Remains

San Giovanni in Conca ruins include the only extant example of Romanesque
Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which evolved into the Gothic architecture style beginning in the 12th century....
 crypt
Crypt

In terms of European architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a church usually used as a chapel or burial vault possibly containing sarcophagus, coffins or relics....
 in Milan. It houses archaeological findings which illustrates the church's history.

Over the crypt are remains of the apse walls, with a single mullioned window and blind arches typical of the Milanese Romanesque.

Artworks from the church which are now in the Sforzesco Castle include, apart the two aforementioned funerary monuments, two figures from an Annunciation (11th century), some Romanesque capitals and frescoes from the 14th century.