Tag: Saint Patrick Well
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The symbology of the knotted columns
Hearing about columns might seem like a bore. What could there be besides the structural function of this circular architectural element? Only its artistic uses come to mind, particularly the classical orders defined by Vitruvius [1]. It is more difficult to imagine, however, the depth of symbolic meanings attached to the concept of columns. They […]
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Templar symbolisms: the Cathedral of St. Lawrence in Genoa
Genoa Cathedral of St. Lawrence was consecrated in 1118 by Pope Gelasius II. Located in the center of the city, the building is similar to the religious edifices constructed between the 10th and 12th century. Nonetheless, Genoa Cathedral seems to be cloaked by an aura of supreme spirituality, like a chest full of treasures and […]
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The Sator Square, an enigma that crosses history
If we found a palindromic Latin epigraph with an uncertain meaning, it would already be an enigma. Moreover, if this signifier were to be rediscovered repeatedly and in different places, it could also be an archaeological riddle. But if it were found on artifacts belonging to different epochs, peoples and cultures, it would be a […]
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The symbolism of the Sacred Center and the Omphalos
The figure of the Sacred Center is as old as human beings and, since the earliest forms of symbolic knowledge, it has expressed the place of divine encounter, the space where the transcendent manifests itself. It has a centre because it represents the principle from which all things were generated, and is sacred because it […]
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The Altopascio Tau Knights
In the Tuscan branch of the Via Francigena, the ancient way that led pilgrims to Jerusalem, there is the nice village of Altopascio. Here, before 1084, there had been the Spedale “edificatus in locus et finibus ubi dicitur Teupascio”. This was the building devoted to the sustenance and treatments to the pilgrims passing through the adjacent […]
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The Wheel of Fortune, Medieval symbology
Throughout human history, the symbol of the wheel, as a signifier of the vital cycles of the cosmos and nature, has had a constant and revelatory presence. The idea of a continuous return, of a cyclical time that regenerates everything, seems entrenched in the beliefs of a metaphysical order from the earliest times. Some examples […]
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The magic symbolism of Ferrara
Today Ferrara is the keeper of an important and diversified Renaissance heritage: from the noble palaces to the masterful Este Castle, from the extraordinary Cathedral of San Giorgio to the innovative urban structure, each element seems to be permeated by history and beauty. The city has also a mysteric atmosphere, trapped in complex systems of […]
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The Templars: monks and soldiers, pilgrims and knights
The conquest of Jerusalem, at the end of the First Crusade, marked a fundamental turning point in the history of Medieval Europe. The city had to be defended and preserved, the holy places of Christianity protected by God’s will. Fighting to pray, this was the spirit that inspired the foundation of the Templars: monks and […]
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The last day of Lucius Vetutius Placidus in Pompeii
On the slopes of the Mount Vesuvius, in the quiet city of Pompeii, Indagini e Misteri tells the chronicle of a dramatic day. The life of Lucius Vetutius Placidus is the pretext to reconstruct the events of that tragic August 24 of 79 AD, in which an unpredictable event upsets the lives of thousands of […]