Located just beyond Porta al Prato, the entrance to the historical centre of the city towards the Valdichiana, the Colonna del Marzocco faces the renaissance Palazzo Avignonesi. Thus called for the lion on the column, the symbol of the Florentine Republic erected in 1511 to replace the wolf to demonstrate that Montepulciano was reannexed to Florence after sixteen years under Sienese domination. Both columns and lion were rebuilt in 1856 by sienese sculptor Antonio Sarrocchi; the original is in the Civic Museum.