Matilde Serao wrote..."When there was a strong eruption, the statue of St. Gennaro was carried, in procession, up to the Magdalene bridge. And so, it was thoughtò one day, to put withà a votive memorial, so that St. Gennaro at the threshold of Naples, toward the terrible mountain, stood between them with all his power."
The obelisk or spire of San Gennaro is located in Piazza Sisto Riario Sforza. Its construction began in 1336 (a date that makes it the oldest in the city) at the behest of the Deputation of the Treasure of San Gennaro to thank the saint for protecting the city during the eruption of Vesuvius in 1631. It was entrusted to Cosimo Fanzago, who took nine years to complete it, although it still had to wait until 1660 to consider the spire finally completed. The obelisk, which grows upward thanks to a series of decorations and volutes, ends with an Ionic capital, adorned with winged putti, on which stands the bronze statue of the saint, made by sculptor Tommaso Montani.