The Devil’s Column.
The Devil’s Column, located in Piazza Sant’Ambrogio in Milan, is a simple Romanesque column.
Milan is indeed an ancient Roman city.
It was founded around 590 B.C., conquered by the Romans in 222, and renamed Mediolanum (a place in the middle of the plain).
The Devil’s Column is a symbol of the ancient Roman presence.
It is made of marble with a Corinthian capital and features two curious holes on the shaft.
It is said to be the last piece of an imperial building erected by Maximian, towards the end of the third century.
In ancient times, every emperor, before coronation, had to embrace it as a purely symbolic gesture.
The Devil and St. Ambrose.
The Devil’s Column is also famous for an ancient legend associated with it.
It is said that the future St. Ambrose, when he was still a simple bishop, one day was surprised by the Devil while walking in the square.
The evil one immediately started to attack him, but he did not get scared. He managed to kick the prince of darkness against the Romanesque column.
Satan thus hit the monument and his horns got stuck in the marble of the column, causing two large holes.
Those holes were used by the defeated Devil as an escape route. 
A kind of opening, a sort of passage to the underworld.
It is said that even today, approaching these holes, it is possible to smell, very clearly, the scent of sulfur and the wailing of the deceased in the afterlife.
Moreover, until the mid-20th century, it was believed that during Easter night, the chariot of the damned passed through that passage, carrying souls to hell.
The legend associated with the Devil’s Column is one of the most famous and well-known in Milan.
And you Souls, are you curious to go see this column after reading this article?
Let us know in the comments.
