Summary
Sources
History
The elderly archbishop Luigi Nazari of Calabiana built the Church dedicated to San Luigi Gonzaga, in an area outside the city, among farmhouses, fields and in the fog, in the so-called Lower Milanese, beyond Porta Romana.
In the last two decades of the nineteenth century, thanks first to the steam tram connecting Milan with Melegnano and Lodi and then to the Rogoredo–Sempione railway line, this area became an immigration route for artisans, workers and the unemployed.
The First Stone
The first stone was laid in 1892 but, due to the bureaucratic, financial, administrative, and organisational process for the construction of the Fabbriceria of San Luigi the elderly Archbishop, who died in 1893, could not see its beginning.
The New Temple
The new temple was opened to the public in the summer of 1896. It first depended on San Rocco (now Sant’Andrea) and then, in 1897, the Church of San Luigi Gonzaga, outside the walls of Milan, was officially consecrated by Cardinal Andrea Carlo Ferrari (also known as Cardinal Ferrari). Today, the Church, with its monumental size and the 50-meter-high bell tower, which stands on the rooftops, overlooks the homonymous square, at the centre of the current district of San Luigi.
Architectural Features
The Church was designed by the vicar of Vergiate, Don Enrico Locatelli, who, despite his expertise in architecture, was not ready to bear the responsibility of such an extensive architectural work. As a result, his project was rejected by the municipal authority. It was then realized by engineer Antonio Casati, who revised and modified it, thus obtaining its approval.
The style is classical basilica. The façade, completed only in 1906, is preceded by a portico with monolithic columns about 10 meters high. On the left, detached from the building, stands the bell tower, completed in 1903 according to a design by engineer Antonio Casati; it is 50 meters high, in a somewhat disjointed style, so that the various parts will not merge with each other; nonetheless, it creates a sense of vertical thrust that adds harmony to the square in front.
The interior has three naves, supported by eight columns, to which alternately correspond pillars protruding from the walls with a decorative function. The ceiling of the central nave is a barrel, decorated with false drawers while the side aisles are in masonry. The slender and proportioned dome has light by means of eight circular windows, which were adorned with stained glass windows representing the “Glorification of the Divine Lamb”, sacrificed for the salvation of the world; today, unfortunately, only the one located above the high altar is still visible.
The walls, in the portion corresponding to the transept, are arched to form the two altars:
– The one on the right is dedicated to the Madonna, created by the Cappuccini company of Milan in 1929, in white Carrara marble.
Aside, there are two frescoes depicting St. Joseph and St. Augustine, by the painter Poggi. It was consecrated by Cardinal Schuster in 1929.
– The altar on the left is dedicated to the Sacred Heart and was erected in reparation for the sacrilegious theft committed in the church in January 1898; it is in Carrara marble and was consecrated by Mons. Mantegazza in July 1898.
The main altar, also in marble, was built in 1908. Above it, in a wooden niche, stood the simulacrum of St. Luigi, sculpted in wood in 1898 by the Rozzi and Speluzzi company; this statue was acquired with the contribution of all the diocesan priests named Luigi; it was later replaced by the current one. The vault above the main altar was decorated in 1904; at its centre there is the best painting in the church, depicting the “Glory of St. Luigi,” by the Milanese painter Luigi Grossi. Each side of the nave had five stained glass windows with saints and full figures, executed in 1929, and in the apse, there were two other stained glass windows depicting St. Ambrose and St. Charles.
Finally, there is a wooden crucifix on the basis of which the rules are engraved to obtain an indulgence, of two hundred days, granted in 1931 by Cardinal Schuster.
Not Just a Church
The parish of San Luigi Gonzaga, thanks to the donations received from the faithful, inaugurated a kindergarten and primary school, a male oratory, and a free voluntary first aid service by doctors and nurses; this first aid service, since 1907, has been established as the White Cross and extended to the entire city. In 1922, the male oratory founded its sports club Fortes in Fide.
Deborah Esposito – EVF APS
Podcast
Traduzione in lingua inglese e podcast realizzati da Denis Zhu – Progetto PCTO con Regina Mundi
Registrazione Podcast a cura di Luigi Maisto
Supervisione – Piera Scudeletti EVF