Iron Crown of Lombardy

The crown is preserved in the Cathedral of Saint John (Duomo di Monza) in Monza, Italy, where it has been housed for centuries. It is kept in a chapel specifically built for it within the cathedral complex and is only occasionally displayed to the public.

The crown gets its name from a thin band of iron enclosed within the gold and jewel-encrusted circlet. Medieval tradition held that this iron band was forged from one of the nails from the Crucifixion of Christ, supposedly given to Emperor Constantine by his mother Saint Helena.

The crown was used in the coronation of numerous kings of Italy over the centuries. The most famous was Napoleon Bonaparte, who dramatically crowned himself King of Italy in Milan Cathedral on May 26, 1805, famously declaring he had found the crown already on the road.

The crown's exact age remains debated among scholars, but it is generally believed to date from the early medieval period, possibly the 8th or 9th century AD. Some traditions associate it with the Lombard kingdom that ruled much of Italy from 568 to 774 AD, though definitive dating remains elusive.