Chiesa di Sant'Angelo (Church of Sant'Angelo), Milan

The church of Sant'Angelo in Milan, located on the dynamic Via Moscova, is a notable example of the Franciscan Observance in Lombardy. Its construction was commissioned in 1552 by Governor Ferrante Gonzaga to replace the original foundation located along the Naviglio Martesana, which was demolished due to the new Spanish walls.

The church has been known by two names: Sant'Angelo, its original name since the 12th century, and Santa Maria degli Angeli, chosen by Saint Bernardino of Siena in reference to Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi, the church of the Porziuncola.

The new Mannerist church, designed by Domenico Giunti, features a large central nave topped by a barrel vault decorated with geometric motifs and a long sequence of chapels on both sides, decorated by the best artists of Milan in the 16th and 17th centuries: Peterzano, Vincenzo Campi, the Procaccini, the Moncalvo, the Morazzone, and the Legnanino.

Adjacent to the church is the imposing structure of the current convent and the Angelicum cultural center, designed by Giovanni Muzio in 1939 on the few remaining remains of the original convent left to the Franciscans after the Napoleonic suppressions and the secularization that lasted throughout the 19th century.

A tour of the church of Sant'Angelo allows visitors to rediscover the evolution of a significant monastic settlement in Milan and admire masterpieces of Milanese art from the Mannerist and Counter-Reformation periods.

Definitely worth your time, especially with the building's impressive exterior marked by the beautiful San Francesco fountain, an outstanding piece created by Giannino Castiglioni in 1926-27.