Tag: lion
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The domus de janas and the Sardinian hypogeic tombs
In Sardinia, a primitive spiritual feeling that aims at self-knowledge and understanding of the world is expressed through stone since the Palaeolithic age. Stone is thus moulded as an image of one’s own being, anthropomorphic features become increasingly explicit in art, and architecture is the full expression of the sacredness. The ancient Sardinians trace thresholds […]
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The basilica of Saint Euphemia in Grado and the Schism
I like to think that in Grado, once upon a time, the bells tolled slowly, like mystical emanations to the rhythm of the lagoon sea. From the thuribles of the basilica of Saint Euphemia the incense wafted to the square, while the delicate smell of saltiness faded for a moment. The motifs of the Byzantine […]
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The pre-Nuragic mother goddess of Sardinia
The development of cultures in pre-Nuragic Sardinia reveals an inner search,through rituals and beliefs new metaphysical frames of meaning, new interpretations of existence are delineated. The primitive feeling of an order beyond nature, which transcends into the sphere of the sacred, is realised in the archetypal image of a female deity related to fertility. That […]
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Nuragic – Behind the Giants
It was the time of heroes, of immortal warriors along the quartz shores of Sinis, on one side roaring and on the other as placid as the stars. It was the age of the giants, erected like vigilant sentinels of the centuries, on the threshold of worlds through life and death, flesh and stone. Hypnotic […]
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The “cromlechs” of the Golasecca necropolis
The Golasecca necropolis of Monsorino is located in a wooded area of the Ticino Park, consisting mostly of chestnut and dense oak forests. It is accessed via a rough, sometimes wild path that seems to be a testimony to primordial times, to remote eras of human wandering. The forest has the characteristics of a special […]
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The sanctuary of Hercules Victor in Tivoli
Since antiquity, Hercules has represented the archetype of strength and invincibility. Nevertheless, the Roman deity is associated with cultic phenomena of different manifestations, also related to agro-pastoral activities and trade. The figure of Hercules derives from a syncretism between the warrior attributes of the Greek Heracles and the sylvan attributes of the Etruscan god Hercules. […]
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The Parish Church of Gropina and the Lombard pulpit
The Parish Church of San Pietro in Gropina, in the Valdarno, is as bare as a tree shaken by the wind on a winter morning. Nothing shows, except the mighty stone that has stood for centuries. There are no paintings, no colours, only a soft penumbra that pervades the spaces, fills every perspective of spiritual […]
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The Hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso
A fascinating sheer cliff, known as Sasso Ballaro, overlooks the shores of Lake Maggiore. The rock slopes downwards with its two hundred and sixty-eight steps. Suddenly, like an ecstatic revelation, a glimpse of infinite beauty appears. The landscape is majestic, and the mountains are reflected like diamonds in the calm waters of the lake; there […]
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The Cross Pattée of the Knights Templar
During the Crusades, soldiers and pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem were used to sew a small cross on their chests or cloaks. However, the term ‘crusade’ was only used long after the first expedition to the Holy Land, probably around 1250 [1], because of this symbol. The cross attested to the condition of martyrdom and sacrifice […]