The entrance to the "Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore" ( the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart) can be found in Largo Agostino Gemelli. Following on from Father Agostino Gemelli's courageous early projects in 1907, definite plans to create this new university structure went ahead in 1921with Pope Benedetto XVth' s approval.
The aim of establishing a Catholic University in Milan was to create an environment where Roman Catholics could regain a more incisive social role contributing to the "riconquista cattolica della società civile"and make the voice of Catholics heard once, again renewing awareness of Catholic opinion among the elements making up civil society.
In this period Padre Gemelli managed to buy the historic monastery of St. Ambrogio which was unoccupied due to the transfer of the military hospital previously housed there. The site was assigned as the university's premises.
The large area covered by the Monastery stretched out from the right side of the Basilica of St. Ambrogio. It had been built by the Benedictine Monks in the eighth century and later handed over to the Cistercian Friars of Chiaravalle in the 15th century by Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, brother of Lodovico il Moro.
The Cardinal directed Donato Bramante to remodel the Convent in 1497. The project foresaw a great square area divided into four cloisters, but only two of these were ever built. The northern Ionic cloister, nearest to the Basilica, was constructed under the direction of Cristoforo Solari and finished in1513. Work on the Doric cloister was carried out between 1620 - 1630 implementing a bramantesque style design.
When it was designated as the seat of the Catholic University Padre Gemelli entrusted restoration work to Architect Giovanni Muzio, (who also designed the "Palazzo dell'Arte della Triennale" of Milan built between 1931-1933). Muzio worked on the project over a twenty year period from 1928 until the end of the forties coping with the damage caused by bombing in August 1943 and the subsequent reconstruction. Muzio both restored the existing complex and added on new buildings and service areas. He made, however, a clear distinction between pre-existing areas and new additions where modern materials and solutions, as for example glass surfaces, demonstrate the influence of rationalism. Muzio was responsible for building the main entrance giving on to Largo Gemelli. Over the granite portal is a recess housing a statue of Christ the King sculpted by Giannino Castiglioni, and a bell. In the wing along via Necchi the male house of residence "Augustinianum" is still situated while the "Ludovicianum" and "Marianum" are now nearby in via San Vittore. The refectory for teachers and students is towards via Necchi. On the southern side of the complex there are lecture rooms giving on to via Lanzone and the Institute of Psychology.
Worthy of note are the results of restoration work on the Bramantesque cloisters and the former sixteenth century monastery refectory transformed into a splendid Aula Magna enriched with a wall fresco by Callisto Piazza (1545) inspired by the Marriage of Cana. The library and the Chapel with the walls modulated by high sculptures by Manzù are of interest.
Extension work begun in the nineteen-eighties uncovered some surprising archaeological finds. Above all the remains of a Roman necropolis (1st and 3rd centuries) once situated just outside the city walls of the ancient settlement of Mediolanum as well as a vast circular brick structure dating from the end of the sixteenth century or beginning of the seventeenth, which has been identified as the Cistercian monastery ice-house la "conserva de giazzo" described in documents from the Sforza era. This interesting excavation, left open to public view, can be seen in the basement lecture room dedicated to the philosopher Gustavo Bontadini.
