Saint Andrew's Lion, Rock monument near Sant'Andrea Church, Italy

Saint Andrew's Lion is a worn Romanesque stone lion on a Euganean trachyte column made of two joined sections, set on a square trachyte base in the small churchyard of Sant'Andrea. The column is Roman; the lion is a 2015 copy of the 18th-century version by Felice Chiereghin.

The lion was taken as war booty by the Sant'Andrea district after Padua's victory over Aldobrandino I d'Este, and the podestà Jacopo de Viallardi da Vercelli had it placed on a Roman column. In 1212, after reconciliation with Rinaldo d'Este, the original was returned and replaced by a larger statue carved by magister Daniel. Destroyed in 1797, it was rebuilt by Felice Chiereghin, restored in 1914 and 1989, and after a 2013 collision a copy was set back in 2015.

Locals call the lion "la gatta" (the cat), a nickname already recorded by De Marchi in 1855 and possibly coined in the Middle Ages to mock the Este family, whose emblem it was. The district's residents still gather here for the patron saint's feast.

The monument is accessible year-round and sits at an easy-to-reach location next to the main pathway. Visitors can view and photograph it anytime while walking through the area.

The nickname "Gatta" was already recorded by De Marchi in 1855, and may date to the Middle Ages as a jibe at the Este family, whose lion was taken as war booty. The lion now on the column is a 2015 copy; the restored 18th-century version by Felice Chiereghin is kept in the Palazzo Comunale.