The Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul

The story of Agliate Agliate is a small town in Brianza, Its location favoured the settlement of people over the centuries. With the missionary presence of Saint Ambrose, Christianity started spreading and the church of Agliate became a landmark for religious people. Only in this church could people be baptized. From the 9th to the 11th century the baptistery was built and the church took the name of “Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul”.

Restoration works The shape of the Basilica, as we see it today, is the result of extensive restoration works carried out since the 16th century, so it is difficult to identify the original characteristics of the church. There were three doors in the façade but only one of them was in use. The bell-tower did not exist.

Only the nave was covered with a roof, there was no floor or pavement and only the main apse was frescoed; the church was paved with poor materials in In the first half of the 17th century the bell-tower was built, but in the 19th century it was demolished, rebuilt and accomplished in 1900.

From 1724 to 1759 the plan of the Basilica became cruciform: the first two arches of the nave were destroyed to create a transept. A new sacristy was built between the church and the baptistery, which was consolidated in the 19th century. Later the floor was covered in terracotta.

The Façade From the church square we can admire the façade, which repeats the church’s three- nave structure. The central door was rebuilt in It is bordered by ancient jambs decorated with osier tangles.

The Inside The interior of the basilica has one nave and two aisles with wooden beamed ceiling and a presbitery over a crypt with a barrel roof.

Not a single column, or base, or capital is the same as another. The capital of the last column but one on the left has a carving of two dolphins drinking from a Kantharos from which a trident (Neptune’s sceptre) sticks out.

The inside of the basilica is rich in symbols: the windows are 33, the years spent by Jesus Christ on the earth, the columns are 6 and the arches 7. They recall the 6 days of the creation and the 7° day of rest. The naves are 3, symbolysing the trinity.

The Crypt From the left-hand aisle, going past an altar wich contains saint Biagio’s relics, we go down the crypt which is dedicated to St. Andrew the Apostle. The ceiling with cross vaults is supported on little stone coloumns with capitals. One of these is of white marble, it is an example of Carolingian sculpture and dates back to the 9th century. In past times women could not enter it. They were allowed to watch services through the two mullioned windows with two lights.

The Frescoes The surviving medieval frescoes can be admired from the bottom of the stairs leading up to the main altar.

The presbitery, with its rectangular plan and its barrel vault, has some frescoes. It is possible to see: Christ the judge, with the right hand lifted to administer justice; The Eagle which represents the apostle John the Baptist. On the left side of the central nave there is a small frescoed section which suggests that the frescoes were on two levels and they showed scenes from the Old Testament in the upper row, from the New Testament in the lower. They date back to the 10th century. In the middle, inside a circle, there is God the father. On the nearby wall there is a fresco depicting “our lady of milk”. On the left aisle, deprived of windows, there is a fresco portraying the blessed Virgin of graces. She is sitting on a throne with the holy Child on her lap. They hold a flower in their hands: the Virgin a twig of roses and the holy child a lily. The Virgin has fair hair and a melancholy look.

The Baptistery The baptistery is famous for its enneagonal plan and its cycle of frescoes. In the middle there is the characteristic octagonal font for baptismal immersion.

On the barrel vault there are two images of SS. Andrea and Giacomo, two apostoles of Christ; to their right there is St. Onofrio. To the right of the main door there is the Deposition of Christ.

These frescoes represent Jesus who gives the Keys to Saint Peter and a Madonna with a child. The holy child is revealing to his mother his passion and death and dates back to the first years of the 14th century.

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