Tag: spiral
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Narni Underground, secrets from the past
Remnants of ancient walls covered by brambles and shrubs, and then the cliff overhanging the Nera River. What could be beyond those crumbling stones of the monastery? What secrets did the coenoby of san Domenico, now partly abandoned and buried by the cowardly bombardments of the war, still conceal, and which ones Narni underground? A…
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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 Chapel of the Souls in Purgatory once stood outside the city walls of Tortora [1]. An unbuilt place beyond the inhabited area, it also marked the metaphysical boundary of the world of the living, as testified by its use for funerary purposes. The ancient location of the church, later incorporated by the expansion of…
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The cult of Isis in Benevento
“Isis the Great, the God’s Mother, Sothis, Queen of the Gods, Lady of the Sky, the Earth, and the Netherworld. Regnal year eight, under the majesty of the Horus, the Strong Bull, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Lord of the Two Lands, Horus, the God’s Son, beloved of all the gods, the…
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The menhirs of Sardinia and the cult of the ancestors
What reason was there in raising the stone, in elevating the sacred beyond the ground and, between the physical and the metaphysical, in creating paths that led towards desires for eternity? The menhirs of Sardinia traced obscure routes, enigmatic to the eyes of us, human beings of today. Stone is essential, and in its hardness…
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The sanctuary of Monte d’Accoddi, sacred centre of Sardinia
At the beginning of the third millennium B.C., at Monte d’Accoddi, someone raised his eyes to the sky. And, in the light of the night, he saw in the firmament the divine image of the mother, the Great Goddess, generator and nurturer of the Universe. Like the beings on earth, the stars had their own…
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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…
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The city of Spoleto and the sense of beauty over the centuries
It is not easy to find a place that takes on the value of a monumental complex [1] as in the city of Spoleto. It is a site of historical, artistic, ethno-anthropological importance that preserves buildings from different eras, admirably integrated with each other. Often, however, the opposite happens: archaeology shows how easy it is…
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The Lombard Monasteries way
In the Middle Ages, pilgrimage had a fundamental importance for social life. It was not just a journey, a slow walk along the road, but it represented a true missio, a special frame of meaning for the existence. The pilgrimage, through a concrete sacrifice, made it possible to experience the vicissitudes of Christ and to…