Milan
Legend and truth combined
Flavia Giulia Elena Augusta, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, converted to Christianity at the age of 60 and went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 327 AD. There, legend has it, she found four nails from Jesus's cross. Three of the nails were lost, but the one remaining nail is part of the famous Ferrea crown which is kept at Monza. In 1576 San Carlo Borromeo revived the cult of the nail during the plague when he carried the Holy Nail in a procession up to the Miraculous Madonna of San Celso. The epidemic ceased soon after this. This event is commemorated yearly around the 14th September on the day dedicated to the Exaltation of the Cross, when the Holy Nail is displayed to the public for forty hours through latches called 'nivola' which are thought to have been invented by Leonardo da Vinci.
| Neighborhood: | Downtown |
| Address: | Piazza Duomo |
| Milan, 20123 |
| Nearest train: | MM1, MM3 Duomo |