The history of S.Miniato al Monte

San Miniato was the first martyr in the city.

He was probably a Greek merchant or an Armenian prince on a pilgrimage to Rome.

It is said that around 250, when he arrived in Florence, the life of a hermit began and that he was beheaded during anti-Christian persecutions.

Legend has it that the saint did not die after the beheading but, taking his head under his arm, he took her to the Florentine hill where he had lived as a hermit.

Later, on this place, a sanctuary was erected and, in the eighth century, a chapel.

The construction of the current church began in 1013.