Museo della Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio

The Museo della Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio sits inside the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan. That setting shapes the visit: the walls around the exhibits are part of the story they tell. You step from the church into the museum, and Milan's religious and cultural history unfolds around you.

The museum dates from 1949, founded to preserve and celebrate the basilica's history. Its most celebrated piece is a gold and silver cross that Saint Charles Borromeo carried during the thanksgiving procession of 1576. That procession marked the end of a devastating plague, and the cross came to stand for hope and resilience. The original chapel is part of the visit too. Its ornate furnishings and mosaics carry you into the artistic and spiritual life of past centuries.

Beyond the cross, the collection runs from the fourteenth century to the twentieth: liturgical items, frescoes, tapestries and applied art. The Urn of the Innocents counts among these pieces. Few museums let you stand inside the very building whose treasures surround you.