Chiesa di Santa Maria Incoronata

In the heart of Milan stands a church that is really two. The Chiesa di Santa Maria Incoronata is a Renaissance rarity: a double church, two complete churches under one roof. Step inside and you find two naves of the same height, held apart by pillars and ending in apses. Each half keeps its own dedication, and the pair grew from a single political moment.

The left side began as Santa Maria di Garegnano in the communal age, and later work gave it the late Gothic style. Bianca Maria Visconti commissioned the right side in the mid-fifteenth century and dedicated it to San Nicola da Tolentino. The builders completed the pair to celebrate Francesco Sforza's coronation as Duke of Milan. The twin structure proclaims the unity and strength of Milanese power. Inside, frescos attributed to Ercole Procaccini and Giovanni Stefano Montalto still colour the walls. Scenes from the saint's life fill the Chapel of San Nicola da Tolentino.

The complex reaches past the church itself, into the remnants of an ancient Augustinian convent. Upstairs sits the humanistic library, painted with figures of Augustinian scholars and theologians. Wheelchair users can enter the church without difficulty. Out in the large cloister, pointed arches carry traces of fifteenth-century frescos.