Category: Symbols
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The mysteries of Campiglia Marittima, the secret language of stone
Mystery pervades the streets of Campiglia Marittima’s historic centre, creeping like a light breeze between the medieval walls and permeating the atmosphere of this charming Tuscan village. Its ancient buildings conceal many enigmas: engravings, sculpted faces and symbols seem to belong to a secret, indecipherable language. The 12th-century Pieve di San Giovanni preserves fascinating evidence…
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The labyrinth of Reims Cathedral
Once, in the nave of Reims Cathedral, at the foot of soaring pillars, between Gothic arches and majestic polychrome stained glass windows, was a labyrinth. This intricate drawing, composed of eleven geometric coils, lay beneath the feet of the pilgrims who had just passed through the entrance, seeking redemption in the house of God. For…
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The Alchemical Door and the lost Villa Palombara
In the streets of Rome, two distinct spirits coexist. Alongside its historical past, with its grand monuments, there exists another, more hidden dimension. This is connected to occultism and the ancient alchemical rituals of the seventeenth century, whose memory seems lost to time, yet which continues to reveal itself silently to those who know where…
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The cosmic temple of St. Michael the Archangel in Perugia
A hillock stands close to the city walls, and on it there is a sacred building that reflects the harmony of the cosmos. The temple of St. Michael the Archangel in Perugia is circular, as symbol of the perfection of all creation, but also image and anticipation of the heavenly Jerusalem. There is an eschatological…
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The zodiac at the Church of the Purgatory in Tortora
The Church of the Purgatory in Tortora once stood outside the city walls. As a sacred place set apart from the town, it marked the metaphysical boundary of the world of the living, a function that can be deduced from its funerary purpose1. Its location, which was later swallowed up by urban expansion, was not…
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The Cross Pattée of the Knights Templar
In the Middle Ages, many pilgrims decided to undertake a long journey to reach the sites of Christianity in the Holy Land. For the faithful, the pilgrimage was not only a metaphor for man’s condition on earth, but constituted a privileged path of redemption. The hardships of the path were a means of purification and…
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Tempio civico dell’Incoronata and the symbolisms of Lodi
In Via Incoronata in Lodi, in the 15th century known as Contrada de’ Lomellini, there was a brothel. However, the intriguing aspect was not the common practice of erecting such places for the enjoyment of rich citizens, but rather that, just in front of a load-bearing wall facing the street, there was a crowned Madonna1.…
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The mysterious Christ in the labyrinth of Alatri
Alatri, 1997. During restoration work on a room adjacent to the cloister of Saint Francis church, some colours faded by time emerged from a narrow passage. The building was erected starting in 1220 and its adjoining convent dates back to 13591. Certainly the unexpected room, lost in the oblivion of time, was probably part of…
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Valvisciolo Abbey in Sermoneta, a Templar site
Valvisciolo Abbey stands in a place of pleasant beauty, suspended between the earth and the firmament, where the Lepini Mountains caress the great plain of the Agro Pontino. The ancient monastery rests on the slopes with an innate harmony, as if it had been part of that Arcadian landscape since time immemorial. Its church gazes…
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The lost tiles in the parish church of Pieve Terzagni
Pieve Terzagni is a small hamlet in the lower Po Valley, now part of the municipality of Pescarolo ed Uniti. It is home to a treasure of art and symbolism that has long been hidden in the mists of oblivion. In the presbytery of the church of San Giovanni Decollato, fragments of a forgotten past…