Santa Maria alla Porta is a church in Milan, Italy.
Although a church already stood in the same Milanese location since before the year 1105, the present church was erected in 1652 under Spanish rule. It was designed by architect Francesco Maria Richini, and after his death in 1658, the project was completed by Francesco Castelli—the original architect and engineer from Mendrisiotto (not to be confused with Francesco Castelli, colloquially known as "il Borromini") responsible for the construction of the Baroque gate and of the towering tympanum. The church owes its toponym "alla porta" [at the gate] to its construction where the old Porta Vercellina stood, as part of the wall erected in the Republican era by Augustus. The road facing the church, via Santa Maria alla Porta, was part of the decumanus (the east/west oriented road) that led from San Sepolcro Square to Porta Vercellina.
It is a parish church in the Archdiocese of Milan which serves the Polish-Milanese community.
History
According to a historical testimony by Landolfo Luniore (1077-1137), known as Landolfo di San Paolo, in his Historia Mediolanensis [History of Milan], it seems that the church of Sancta Maria ad Portam already existed before the 12th century in the same place where it stands today. It would have served as a minor church, though, since it was neither a Decuman church nor the place of litanies. Landolfo in the same work reported that on May 7, 1105, during the demolition of the pre-existing church, precious relics were discovered, among which were a part of Jesus’ burial clothes and his Holy Shroud, a piece of the stone on which the angel who announced the resurrection was seated, a splinter of the Holy Cross, and a fragment of Mary's dress."Putavi non pretereundum scilentio, quod durante lite Grosulani, scilicet 1105 7 idus maiis, invente sunt reliquie pretiose in Ecclesia Sancte Marie ad Portam".
["I thought that cannot be passed silently that during the Grosulani dispute, of course, May 7, 1105, there were precious relics at the Church Sancte Marie ad Portam"]Another historian named Torre mentions the same relics in 1674, and also records the presence of the venerated bones of sub-deacons, Saints Casto and Polimio.
The miraculous finding gave origin to the "Festa del Salvatore" [Feast of the Savior], which was celebrated every 9 May with a procession that went from the church of Saint Tecla to Santa Maria alla Porta. The parishioners would wave fresh fronds and carry candles while reciting aloud the word agios (holy, pure), which was the original name of the popular Festa dell'agios (Feast of the Holy/Pure).
On December 8, 1651, when an external wall was being demolished as part of the reconstruction of the old church using Richini's design, they discovered a fresco depicting the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus on her lap, called the Madonna del grembiule [the Virgin of the Apron]. The discovery created an influx of donations from parishioners to ensure the renovation of the church. The result was its single nave architectural plan from 1652.
Little would be known about the appearance of the church before Richini's reconstruction if it were not for its description, including the building plan, which can be found in documents of Federico Borromeo's pastoral visit in 1605. The church is described as having three aisles/naves and a shape of a cross, and facing the east. In total, it was around 65 feet long and 26 feet wide, decorated with frescoes by Luini and Bramante.
The facade was finally restored in 1856, after the completion of the restoration of the building, the floors with the burial sites underneath, and the surrounding spaces that parish priest, Alberto De Capitani d'Arzago had started in 1854.
A plaque against the right wall of the church lists the priests of Santa Maria alla Porta. The first on the list is Marco Azzoni, active around 1450, but actually, Maffeo Monza, an active priest from 1536 to 1574, was the first priest with confirmed dates of activity.