Festa
del Sacro Chiodo

Usually celebrated on the first Sunday of September, the feast for the Holy Nail is a liturgical ceremony that takes place in the Cathedral of Colle with the blessing of the city, the exposition of the relic and the subsequent procession in the solemn presence of the bishop. The sacred nail is a very revered relic in the city starting from the 12th century and arrived in Colle in the 9th century. According to tradition, a French bishop received the Nail of the Cross of Christ directly from the Pope to transfer it to France. It seems that during the journey the pilgrim taken ill, gave the relic to his traveling companion, a priest from Colle who took it to his parish. The Sacro Chiodo was initially kept in the Pieve a Elsa and then was housed in the new town parish church. With the construction of the Cathedral in the early 1600s, the chapel that housed the relic was also renovated. Over the years, the altar of the Sacred Nail became a destination for illustrious pilgrims. Given the great devotion of the city, in 1645 the Bishop Giovanni Bonaccorsi established the Centuria del Sacro Chiodo, to gather all the devotees of the relic and to be able to best honor the cult of the Sacred Nail which has reached the present day. For years, the feast of the Holy Nail has merged with a historical Renaissance re-enactment, thus combining the religious celebration with convivial and musical occasions of entertainment that go beyond the radius of the Cathedral to also occupy the adjacent streets.