Saint Ansanus (†304), called The Baptizer or The Apostle of Siena, is the patron saint of Siena. He was born of a noble Roman family and while still a child, was secretly baptized by his nurse and was secretly brought up as a Christian. Ansanus openly declared his Christian faith during the persecutions of Diocletian, when he was nineteen years old. According to tradition, St. Ansanus preached the Gospel in Bagnoregio and the church of Santa Maria delle Carceri outside the Alban Gate was said to have been built above the prison in which he was confined. Ansanus was scourged but survived this torture, as well as the next one: being thrown into a pot of boiling oil. He was then taken to the city of Siena as a prisoner. He managed to preach Christianity there and make many converts to this religion but eventually, he was decapitated by order of the Emperor Diocletian. He is venerated in Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches and his feast is celebrated on 1 December.