Beneath your feet rests Piazza Don Saturnino Villa. Here stands the Chiesa parrocchiale di Santa Marcellina in Muggiano. This church has a unique story. It involves moving buildings and dedicated locals.
Let’s step back to when Santa Marcellina was a simple church. It was managed by the Prepositura di San Giovanni Battista in Cesano Boscone. Then in 1898 Archbishop Andrea Carlo Ferrari made Santa Marcellina its own parish. The original church building wasn’t here though. It stood where Cascina Corte Lucini is now across from Corte Grande. Today only a fresco of Santa Marcellina remains from that era.
Don Saturnino Villa was key to the church’s history. He founded the parish and served as its first pastor. The current Chiesa di Santa Marcellina in Muggiano was built between 1909 and 1911. In 1914 the parish officially moved to this new location. Don Saturnino Villa and others traded land. They swapped the old church building for the land under this new church.
Muggiano joined Milan in 1923. A year later the Chiesa di Santa Marcellina in Muggiano became a prepositura. This happened by order of Archbishop Eugenio Tosi. The church continued to grow. In 1942 it bought more land from Natalina Custelli Carrettoni.
The church faced tough times too. In 1943 a fire and a bomb badly damaged the sacristy. Despite this the community rebuilt. New bells were installed in 1954. More changes came between 1985 and 1990. The old railings were removed. A new altar was built. The presbytery was lowered. Later from 1999 to 2000 the portico outside was added. The Chiesa di Santa Marcellina in Muggiano got a makeover between 2014 and 2016. The church was renovated. The floors and systems were replaced.
Look at the church’s facade. Notice the brickwork and the semicircular rose window with colored glass. Stone frames the entrance. The portico rises in a rounded arch. The sides the bell tower and the apse are simple brick. Two blind neo-Romanesque windows decorate the back wall.
Inside the Chiesa di Santa Marcellina in Muggiano you’ll see a single nave. The ceiling has barrel vaults. A cupola sits where the arms of the Latin cross meet. A semi-dome tops the apse. Four small chapels line the nave.
The inside decorations are simple. They focus on the vaults the cupola and the pilasters. The marble finish of the pilasters stands out. The main altar and organ are in the presbytery. This church even houses an antique mechanical organ from the early 1800s. It originally was in the Church of San Vittore al Teatro. When that church was demolished the organ was moved here. The main altar also came from San Vittore al Teatro.
Take a moment to appreciate the Chiesa di Santa Marcellina in Muggiano. It stands as a testament to faith community and history. It connects Muggiano’s past to its present.