Colonne di San Lorenzo
Sixteen ancient marble columns salvaged from Roman buildings, reassembled into a grand entrance.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Colonne di San Lorenzo in Milan opens in 1555, when a Milanese official ordered these sixteen ancient columns torn down to clear the way for King Philip the Second of Spain's ceremonial entrance, and the Spanish governor Ferrante Gonzaga who overruled him. It traces where the columns actually came from: salvaged Roman stone dragged here from two different ancient structures and mismatched into a single row centuries earlier. Look up at the capitals to see how little they match.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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