Column of St Zenobius

Beside the Baptistery, amid the coming and going of tourists, stands a column that hardly anyone looks at. It holds nothing up and celebrates no battle: it commemorates a botanical miracle.

1The elm that blossomed

Zenobius was bishop of Florence in the early 5th century and one of the city's best-loved saints. According to tradition, when his remains were carried from the church of San Lorenzo to the old cathedral of Santa Reparata, the coffin brushed against a dead elm growing here. At that very moment, in the depths of winter, the tree burst into leaf and flower.

Tradition dates the translation to 26 January 429, but the column itself gives another date: its inscription of 1375 speaks of the year 409.

That discrepancy was already troubling scholars in the 18th century. What we do know is that a first granite column stood here, and that the great flood of 1333 knocked it down. The present one went up in 1334, with a shaft of cipollino marble, and the cross was added in 1338. In 1501 the cross came crashing down while the feast of St John was being prepared.

2A crown of iron

The most curious part is at the top: a ring of wrought iron with branches and leaves that recalls the miraculous elm. The original pieces are now in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, and those in the square are copies fitted during restorations.

3What to look for

• The iron leaves below the cross, the memory of the elm.
• The Gothic inscription carved into the shaft.
• The Baptistery next door: the saint's coffin passed between it and the cathedral.