The Church of San Gottardo in Corte was built in 1336 as the Palatine Chapel annexed to the Palace of the Lord of Milan, Azzone Visconti. Initially dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the church was later named after Saint Gotthard, in honour of his thaumaturgical powers against gout, a disease from which Azzone himself suffered. The building, designed by Francesco Pecorari, has a single hall and finishes with a large, semi-octagonal apse which holds the Funerary Monument of Azzone Visconti and a splendid altarpiece depicting Saint Charles in Glory by Giovanni Battista Crespi, known as Cerano.

The splendid bell tower in pink terracotta with corner columns in white marble has remained intact. Designed in the typical Lombard Gothic style, on its top stands an angel in gilded copper, the Archangel Michael bearing the Visconti standard. At the base of the bell tower the inscription which bears the name of the architect, Francesco Pecorari, can be read. The city’s first public clock was installed at the top of the bell tower, which struck the 24 hours with a bell starting from the first hour after sunset. This complex automation gave its name to the contrada (city quarter), known as Contrada delle Ore or Quarter of the Hours.

At the end of the 1700s, as part of the renovation of the Royal Palace under the guidance of the architect Giuseppe Piermarini, the original façade was sacrificed and a new entrance was opened on the southern side, where in more recent times the original doorway was also repositioned. The fresco with the Crucifixion from the Giotto school is also visible inside the church, found in 1926 at the base of the bell tower and moved inside the building in 1953.