The Basilica of San Simpliciano in central Milan stands on a site that was a pagan cemetery in the third century. Saint Ambrose commissioned the Basilica Virginum in the fourth century, and his successor Simplicianus finished it and was buried there. It is the second-oldest known Christian church with a Latin cross layout. A brick stamped with the mark of the Lombard King Agilulf shows repairs between 590 and 615.
The building was remodeled between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, giving it its Romanesque appearance, and the original walls were kept to a height of 72 feet (22 meters). In 1252 the body of Peter of Verona lay in state here after his murder. In the sixteenth century Ferrante Gonzaga had the bell tower lowered by 82 feet (25 meters).
The apse vault holds Ambrogio da Fossano's Coronation of Mary. It is an active church in the Ambrosian Rite.
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