San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore: The Sistine Chapel of Milan, and It Is Free

From the street it is a plain grey wall on Corso Magenta. Inside, every surface of San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore is covered in sixteenth-century frescoes. Milanese call it the Sistine Chapel of Milan, entry costs nothing, and most tourists walk straight past. From Taylor's Love Solferino B&B it is a short ride or a pleasant walk.

San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore, Milan. Photo: Casalmaggiore Provincia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Getting There from Our B&B

By metro: from Moscova (M2 green line), 300 metres from the B&B, two stops to Cadorna, then a five-minute walk along Corso Magenta. Around 15 minutes door to door.

On foot: approximately 1.8 km, about 22 minutes, through Brera and past the Castello Sforzesco.

A Church Divided in Two

San Maurizio was built from 1503 for the Benedictine nuns of the Monastero Maggiore, the most important convent in Milan. The building has an unusual plan: a dividing wall splits it into two halls – one for the public, one for the enclosed nuns, who could hear Mass but not be seen.

Both halls were frescoed over several decades, largely by Bernardino Luini and his sons, with contributions from Simone Peterzano – who later taught Caravaggio. Luini had absorbed Leonardo's manner during his years in Milan, and it shows in the soft modelling of the faces.

The result is one of the most complete decorative schemes of the Lombard Renaissance, preserved almost intact.

What to Look For

• The dividing wall – frescoed on both sides, with a grille through which the nuns received communion.
• The nuns' hall – behind the wall, even more richly painted than the public one, because only the sisters ever saw it.
• Santa Caterina by Luini – the martyrdom scene, and the celebrated portrait of a young noblewoman said to be Ippolita Sforza.
• The organ – from 1554, one of the oldest working organs in Lombardy.
• The Ark of Noah – a charming panel with animals filing aboard.
• Museo Archeologico – next door in the former convent, with Roman Milan and a surviving section of the Roman city walls in the garden.

Practical Information

• Admission: free.
• Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, roughly 10:00 to 17:30. Closed Mondays.
• Time needed: 45 minutes, longer if you have binoculars for the upper registers.
• Photography: permitted without flash. The light is dim – a steady hand helps.
• Best time to visit: late morning, when the light through the high windows reaches the frescoes.

Combine It With

Santa Maria delle Grazie and Leonardo's Last Supper are 600 metres further along Corso Magenta, and the Museo Archeologico is in the same building. If you have a Last Supper ticket, come here first – it fills the wait perfectly.

Why Staying in Brera Makes the Difference

Taylor's Love Solferino B&B is at Via Solferino 56 in Zone 1, the historic centre, between Brera, Moscova and Corso Garibaldi. Free, quiet places like this are the ones you visit only if they are close – and from here they are.

For travellers who prefer a short stay apartment in Milan centre to a hotel, the B&B offers free self check-in with a smart lock. Porta Garibaldi FS, 700 metres away, connects directly to Malpensa Airport with the Malpensa Express.