𝗦𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗢𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘂𝘀 of Lecce or as they call him here Santu Ronzu, is not a particularly interesting figure to me, he lived in the time of Nero, early days for the Christian movement, and was martyred with an axe but the town of Lecce and indeed the whole Salento area hold him in high regard. Most notably when the plague lifted in 1656 they were sure it was because of him, even if the axe did him in more than a millennium before. ⁣

What is interesting about Sant’Oranzo is this column he stands on in the very center of town, the column was part of a set of markers set up in the nearby town of Brindisi by emperor Trajan around the year 100 AD to mark the end of the Appian road that led more or less in a straight line from Rome. ⁣

Over time the columns fell and broke and were just forgotten, but after that plague lifted the people of Brindisi gave one to the people of Lecce in gratitude of Lecce’s Saint for stopping the plague. ⁣

A strange tale but that’s why this historic Roman marker stands here. ⁣