Verziere Column

The construction of the column was ordered by the "Confraternity of the Sacred Cross of Porta Tosa", a Milanese religious order which had its headquarters in the area. The column itself was built in Baveno and brought to Milan by boat; at the time, the Verziere itself could be reached by boat through Milan's canal system. The column was first completed in 1583, but legal and bureaucratic problems followed; the column was demolished, and the reconstruction had several false starts, so that the completion was eventually delayed until 1611. Also because of bureaucratic issues, the statue of Jesus Christ could not be placed on top of the column until 1673. ==The column in Milanese folklore==

As a consequence of the fact that the old Verziere was traditionally associated with witchcraft and magic, and of the slowness of the building works of the column, the column itself has a "haunted" reputation in Milanese folklore. A traditional story has it that the statue of Jesus Christ was originally facing towards the Verziere (which is not the direction it is facing now) and that Christ turned its head when a girl named "Barbarinetta" committed suicide by leaping off a balcony in the Verziere plaza. ==Footnotes==