Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

The Cascina Chiesa Rossa is a former rural settlement which, in the 12th century, constituted the grange of the convent of Benedictine nuns with the adjoining church of S. Maria di Fonteggio (which later took the name of S. Maria Rossa).

From the end of the 700th century, once the monastery was abolished, the property passed to private individuals and, used exclusively as an agricultural company, underwent major renovations to adapt it to production needs.

The oldest building in the entire complex is the church, built between the 10th and 12th centuries on existing buildings. It retains its thirteenth-century Lombard Romanesque appearance with exposed bricks, a simple gabled façade with portal and single-lancet window and the classic decorative motif of intertwined hanging arches.

The foundation of the church of Santa Maria alla Rossa dates back to the early Christian period. In fact, during the 1966 restorations, remains of ancient buildings from the XNUMXth century AD and mosaics from the XNUMXnd century AD were found under the thirteenth-century flooring of the church.

The entire complex is located approximately 3 meters below the road level due to the construction of the Naviglio Pavese, which runs just a few meters away, and the raising of the road level. As a consequence, in 1783 the church, half-buried by the embankment, was divided into two floors. The ground floor used as a warehouse accessible from the lowest level and the church accessible from the towpath.