The church was founded outside the city walls in 1254 by Brother Lanfranco Settala, general prior of the Order of St. Augustine. A decisive development occurred in the 1600s when the church underwent a Baroque-style restructuring, which camouflaged older architectonics. Following various transformations, the facade retains its Gothic portal. The basilica features an immense interior (96 meters long), laid out in a Latin cross pattern, with three naves divided by pilars, and an overall Baroque appearance. The right transept is a sanctuary of Medieval Milan. The history of St. Mark’s is rife with the celebrated names of the past. For example, Mozart, as a child prodigy, once spent three months in the cathedral’s canonical annex; Giovanni Battista Sammartini, inventor of the symphony, also resided there during the 1700s; and on May 22, 1874 Giuseppe Verdi personally conducted his sublime Requiem in memory of Italian author Alessandro Manzoni.