Tag: Merels board

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…
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 Saint 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

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…
Collodi Castle, the lost village

In the heart of the province of Pistoia in Tuscany lies a village with a fairy-tale atmosphere. Steep slopes, rugged climbs, picturesque cottages enveloped in an almost magical aura and verdant paths welcome visitors to Collodi Castle. In the town of the puppet Pinocchio, this small hamlet stands out timidly in the distance, remote and…
The Merels Board

A trace engraved on the wall of a medieval cloister or the pavement of a square can reveal much more than meets the eye. There are arcane and fascinating worlds that marks on stone can unveil. Every graffito is there for a reason, perhaps unknown to us, but not to its creator. Stone is incorruptible…
Saint Galgano and the sword in the stone

A knight of extraordinary virtue, the Holy Grail and a sword stuck in a rock: we are not in mythical Camelot, but in Tuscany, in a real place that has managed to preserve and convey the charm of the legend. Amidst natural landscapes of extraordinary beauty stands the Hermitage of Montesiepi where, according to tradition,…