San Vincenzo in Prato
The Basilica of Saint Vincent in Prato is a Roman Catholic church in Milan, Lombardy, Italy, located at Via Daniele Crespi 6. It still shows much of its original ancient look.
The church was founded in 770 by the Lombard king Desiderius and was first dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It later became linked to Saint Vincent after his relics were found in the crypt in 859, together with those of Saints Quirinus, Nicomedes, and Abundius. The name “in Prato” comes from its location in a field area owned by Bishop Odelpertus. In 806 a Benedictine convent was added. The church was rebuilt in the late 9th and early 10th centuries but kept a similar appearance. The convent was closed in 1520, and in 1598 the church was restored and turned into a parish.
The church measures about 40 by 20 meters and is built in brick. Inside there is a nave and two side aisles with a wooden ceiling; the columns are from different periods. The elevated choir ends in a large apse. Under the presbytery is a crypt with a nave and two aisles separated by ten small columns with sculpted capitals.
On the left outside is an octagonal baptistery built in 1932 by Paolo Mezzanotte. It houses a column-shaped font called Pietra Santa (the Saint Stone), which came from the old church of S. Nazaro in Pietra Santa; that church was demolished in 1889 to make way for Via Dante.
The basilica stands on the site of a Roman temple or oratory along the road to Vigevano, probably dedicated to Jupiter, and lay within a Roman necropolis. Some remains can still be seen in the external left walls.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 09:41 (CET).