The Column of Santa Felicita is a monumental column with

Corinthian capital The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...

standing in front of the church of

Santa Felicita Santa Felicita (Church of St Felicity) is a Roman Catholic church in Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy, probably the oldest in the city after San Lorenzo. In the 2nd century, Syrian Greek merchants settled in the area south of the Arno and are ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, region of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, Italy.

History

Putatively the column was erected to celebrate the 13th-century ''victories'' or crusades led by the Dominican friar

Peter of Verona Peter of Verona (1205 – April 6, 1252), also known as Saint Peter Martyr and Saint Peter of Verona, was a 13th-century Italian Catholic priest. He was a Dominican friar and a celebrated preacher. He served as Inquisitor in Lombardy, was ki ...

against the Cathar heresy in Northern Italy. In 1484, the capital had a

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

statue ''Peter of Verona preaching'', as he had to the Florentines and organizing his militia of the "Società di Santa Maria" used to persecute heretics. The column was financed by Amerigo De Rossi, whose ancestor was a follower of the Dominican preacher. There is some evidence that the column was erected earlier at the site of some former paleochristian tombs, and was surmounted by crosses. The ''St Peter of Verona'' statue fell in 1723, but was replaced by a marble statue by Antonio Montauti, that itself was removed in the 19th century.Nuova guida ovvero Descrizione storico-artistico-critica della città
by Federigo Fantozzi, Florence (1857), page 616. Further injury was added when the Germans, destroying the bridges to the

Arno river The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a ...

, mined the access to

Ponte Vecchio The Ponte Vecchio (; "Old Bridge") is a medieval stone closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge over the Arno, in Florence, Italy. The only bridge in Florence spared from destruction during World War II, it is noted for the shops built along it; ...

, shattering the column. It has been cobbled together by metal rings, and it subsists in the tiny piazza crowded by tourist booths, forlorn in state, secular in apparel, shorn of all emblems of prior purposes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Felicita Florence Fel