Arcanus of Sansepolcro

Saint Arcanus of Sansepolcro was a pilgrim and hermit venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church in the town of Sansepolcro in Tuscany. With Giles he is honored as founder of the town, and for this reason they were the object of a civic cult throughout the Middle Ages and the modern period. Although they are not patrons of the town, Saints Giles and Arcanus became a distinguishing mark of the town and its inhabitants. For this reason the town's feast was once kept on 1 September, and not on 27 December, the day of the patron, Saint John the Evangelist.

A tradition attested from the 13th century, put in pictures in 1380 and written down from 1418, shows him as founder, at the beginning of the 11th century, with Giles, of an oratory, later become an abbey, at the place called Noceati, in the diocese of Città di Castello. The veneration developed above all at Sansepolcro, with its center in the cathedral basilica. Between the 14th and 16th centuries the name Arcanus was fairly widespread, especially among those born around 1 September, the day of the saint's commemoration. On 14 July 2012 the square behind the apse of the cathedral was named after him and Giles. The two saints are always shown together, among others in the Misericordia Polyptych of Piero della Francesca (1445-1461). He is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.