Saint Minias (Minas, Miniatus) (Italian: Miniato, Armenian: Մինաս) (3rd century) is venerated as the first Christian martyr of Florence.

[3] According to legend, he was an Armenian king or prince serving in the Roman Army – or making a penitential pilgrimage to Rome[2] – who had decided to become a hermit near Florence.

Miniato then crossed the Arno and returned to his hermitage on the hill known as Mons Florentinus (Monte di Firenze).

[4] Minias’ relics rest in a crypt in the church dedicated to him, begun by Alibrando (Hildebrand), Bishop of Florence, in 1013 and endowed by Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor.

[2] His cult may also have arisen from the fact that a relic from a location in the East, such as Egypt, was brought to the church that would be known as San Miniato.