Tag: Merels board

Fidenza Cathedral and the Passio of Saint Domninus

Bibles of stones, sculpture manuscripts, tales and figures came to life from the hands of skilled Romanesque stonemasons at Fidenza Cathedral of Saint Domninus. Wise magisters whose power of symbolic knowledge made it possible to transform imagination into real form. But also humble people of faith who carved the stone giving it deep and unchanging…
The Sanctuary of St. Michael on Mount Gargano

The monumental St. Michael’s Cave, on the Gargano promontory in northern Apulia, is a holy place since time immemorial. It is the place where the Sublime and the encounter with the divine are manifested. According to tradition, the cave was chosen by Archangel Michael, the commander of the celestial militia, as a house of worship…
The transcendent silence of Fossanova Abbey

Except for the soft echo of footsteps walking among the pews and kneelers, nothing else can be heard between the aisles of Fossanova Abbey. There is a powerful, mystical atmosphere in this place. It permeates every essence, a transcendent hierophany that is beyond the limits of human comprehension. There is no word, no gesture that…
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…
Valvisciolo Abbey in Sermoneta, a Templar site

On the slopes of Monte Corvino, where the Lepini Mountains look towards the Agro Pontino, there is an abbey distinguished by beauty and simplicity. Valvisciolo Abbey seems to exist in this place since eternity, but its origins are uncertain and lost in time. The forgotten origins of Valvisciolo Lubin, the most ancient and important historian…
Collodi Castle, the lost village

In the heart of the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, there is a fairy-tale village. Steep slopes and climbs, picturesque hamlets enveloped in a magical aura and verdant paths. In the place that gave birth to the puppet Pinocchio, the distant hamlet of Collodi Castle stands out, lost in time more than in space. This ancient…
The Merels Board

An engraving found in a wall of a Romanesque cloister, on an ancient plaster or in the pavement of a square, what can it tell us? Certainly much more than appearances suggest. It is not just a worn graffiti or a sign left absent-mindedly along the road. There is an arcane and fascinating world that…
Saint Galgano and the sword in the stone

A proud knight, the Holy Grail, a sword in the stone and Camelot… or rather Tuscany! Among enchanting natural landscapes, in a place shrouded in essential mysticism and of extraordinary historical importance, stands the Hermitage of Montesiepi. There hides a great mystery: a legendary sword was embedded in the stone by a saint. And just…