Gate of the Cross, Florence: Overall view

One of the monumental 13th century city gates which still survives (twelve were created in the building plan of ca. 1284-1333). It is located in the spot where tradition holds that Saint Miniato was beheaded and what is now Piazza Beccaria, one of the traffic islands created in the nineteenth century with the creation of the ring avenues (viali di Circonvallazione) built to improve traffic flow. Inside the arch is a fresco, rather deteriorated, of a Madonna and Child with Saints attributed to Michele di Ridolfo, (Michele Tosini, 1503-1577), which had a protective function for the city.