Basilica and Museo di Sant’Eustorgio

Striking decoration and the bones of saints
Talk of the town: Nobody knows for sure who designed the Cappella Portinari; likely suspects are Florentine architect Michelozzo di Bartlommeo or Milanese Guiniforte Solari, who worked on the Duomo.

The first church was consecrated here by St Eustorgio in the fourth century; those foundations are illuminated behind the altar in the present basilica, which contains a marble sarcophagus purportedly holding relics of the Magi. Today’s building originates from the seventh century but was much altered and added to down the years.
Religious reliquaries, tapestries and frescoes are on display in the chapter house, sacristy and chapels, which lead into the startling Cappella Portinari. Commissioned by wealthy banker Pigello Portinari in 1462; the chapel’s domed cupola is painted in acid colours and the walls covered in biblical frescoes by Vincenzo Foppa. The elaborate carved ark is by Pisan sculptor Giovanni Balduccio and signed 1339; it was moved here from the basilica in 1875 and contains the relics of St Peter of Verona. It is supported by five red marble columns, against which lean some rather self-satisfied statues of the Virtues.