Description
A Unique Private Townhouse In The Oldest Heart Of Milan
In one of the most iconic panoramas of Milan’s historic center, just steps from the Università Statale and with privileged views of Torre Velasca and the Madonnina, stands an exclusive property of 489 sqm, offering a rare combination of volumes, terraces, and exceptional design potential.
Distributed across multiple levels, the residence includes an elegant ground-floor space, currently used as a retail unit but perfectly suited to become a prestigious private entrance.
The lower-ground level, featuring charming vaulted brick ceilings, is ideal for a wellness area. Together, the ground floor and S1 level offer a total of 81 sqm.
The property also includes two independent apartments on the first floor (60 sqm) and second floor (88 sqm), as well as a 205 sqm residence spanning the third and fourth floors, crowned by a beautiful 35 sqm rooftop terrace on the fifth floor with a direct view of the Duomo. Approximately 20 sqm of shared areas complete the main building.
A fully approved project for the installation of an elevator further enhances the vertical flow and usability of the property, elevating its uniqueness in one of the most authentic and prestigious settings in the city.
Completing the offering is a spacious 21 sqm private garage located on Via Pantano, just 100 meters from the building’s entrance.
Set within the most ancient and discreet heart of Milan, this exceptional residence rises in Vicolo Santa Caterina, one of the city’s rarest urban fragments. Steps from the Basilica di San Nazaro in Brolo, founded by Saint Ambrose in the 4th century, the property lies within the very origins of Mediolanum, where Roman, medieval, Renaissance, and contemporary eras coexist in perfect continuity.
Here, the historic street pattern, the intimate courtyards, and the irregular volumes still echo the early medieval quarter. The building at Vicolo Santa Caterina 1 is fully immersed in this millenary atmosphere, overlooking the historic grounds of the basilica and surrounded by a network of alleys and cloisters preserved through centuries.
A few steps away, the elegant stage of Largo Richini and the monumental Ca’ Granda, today the University of Milan, open into one of the city’s most harmonious architectural ensembles. Designed in the 17th century by Giovanni Battista Richini, this pedestrian district blends Renaissance cloisters, Baroque courtyards, and noble residences. Recent urban upgrades, the new hub of Policinico’s hospital, together with the new M4 metro line, have enhanced its prestige, accessibility, and tranquil character.
Vicolo Santa Caterina itself follows the ancient curve of the brolo, once part of the canonical complex of San Nazaro. Used for centuries as a discreet passage between the Roman center and Porta Romana, it retains its intimate scale, cobblestones, and the soft arc of the basilica’s wall embracing the surrounding homes.
Among the illustrious neighbors stands the Trivulzio Mausoleum, an extraordinary Renaissance monument attributed to Bramantino, and the historic houses of the canons, forming an urban fabric that evolved over centuries around the basilica. The residence at No. 1 belongs organically to this context: a building shaped by the transformations of ecclesiastical dwellings and the nineteenth-century development that still defines the area’s refined residential character.
From the upper level, a rare and theatrical perspective unfolds: Torre Velasca, the Madonnina atop the Duomo, and the rooftops of the ancient center align in a single, iconic panorama. This vantage point offers a unique reading of Milan’s past, Roman foundations, Renaissance architecture, and twentieth-century modernism, coexisting in an unrepeatable frame.
The nearby Chapel of Santa Caterina, documented since medieval times, and the San Nazaro complex tell a story of fires, restorations, artistic patronage, and centuries of ecclesiastical life. Post-war reconstruction campaigns (1947–1986) restored clarity to the basilica’s Paleochristian structure and strengthened the architectural harmony of the entire ensemble.
To live in Vicolo Santa Caterina means inhabiting a private townhome suspended within 1,700 years of history, next to one of Europe’s most extraordinary Paleochristian basilicas, in a quiet, monumental, and fully walkable district at the very center of Milan. A home with a skyline terrace that captures the city’s entire heritage at once. An opportunity as rare as the context itself: timeless, prestigious, and impossible to replicate.
