The patron saints of Monza are Saint John the Baptist and Saint Gerard the Dyer, celebrated on 24 June. In 595 the Lombard queen Theodolinda had an oraculum built near her palace on the banks of the Lambro, soon expanded into a rich basilica dedicated to the Baptist, as told by the Lombard historian Paul the Deacon in his Historia Langobardorum; the cathedral still holds today the Gospel Book donated by the queen to the church, together with the famous Iron Crown, used to crown some kings of the Kingdom of Italy. On the third Sunday of September the Feast of the Holy Nail is celebrated, with a historical re-enactment and the procession of the Iron Crown.
The city's co-patron is Saint Gerard the Dyer, who in 1174 founded the hospital that still bears his name today: continuously active for eight centuries, it is now a hospital of national significance with 3,500 employees. His remains rest in the church of San Gerardo, while the oldest of the three city churches named after him, the small church of San Gerardino, stands where the saint founded his first hospital, and preserves 16th-century frescoes partly attributed to Luini's school. On 6 June, the traditional feast of Saint Gerard takes place, with a statue of the saint placed in the bed of the Lambro river.
