Tag: underground
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The “Madonna and the UFO” in Florence
The Sala d’Ercole in Florence’s historic Palazzo Vecchio houses a mysterious painting. The Madonna and Child with the Infant St. John was possibly the work by Sebastiano Mainardi and dates from the second half of the 15th century. The “Madonna and the UFO” Over time one detail has overshadowed the work’s stylistic disquisitions. Behind the…
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Monterozzi necropolis and a journey into the underworld
We could never have known anything about the Etruscans, a people of ancient Italy who lived between the 9th and 1st centuries BC, if they had not given death the same importance as life. In the 7th and 6th centuries BC, when Etruscan civilization reached its military and cultural peak, houses and temples were built…
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The Tempietto longobardo of Cividale del Friuli
The doorway that gives access to the Tempietto longobardo of Cividale del Friuli not only separates the spaces of matter. It also figures that particular moment of transit, in history and in the figurative arts, that characterized the epic of the Longobards in Italy. In the ancient Roman village of Forum Iulii stands the limen…
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The abandoned village of Old Cerillae
The ancient Medieval village of Cerillae once stood on a steep promontory, nestled in the beauty of a boundless place, close to the roaring sea and cliffs in the Riviera dei Cedri; but today it is destroyed and abandoned. All that remains of so memory are the ruins of Old Cerillae Vecchia, melancholy reminders to…
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The Temple of Clitumnus, sacred center of the Longobards
There are places that, even across the centuries, preserve intact that admirable perception of innate sacredness. A stream of water flowing gracefully in the moonlight on the valley floor; a silent forest of beech and cypress trees, the edge of which declines impetuously along the banks of an ancient spring: the Sources of Campello reveal…
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Saint Michael’s Abbey and the Portal of the Zodiac
On the summit of Mount Pirchiriano, like an ancient guardian protecting the valley, stands the marvellous Saint Michael’s Abbey. It is an ancient and admirable place of faith, towering 962 metres above sea level, almost seems to reach towards the sky: it can only be accessed by a steep climb. The ascent is a metaphorical…
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The Dolmen of Chianca and ancestral rites of passage
On August 6, 1909, archaeologists Francesco Samarelli and Angelo Mosso were going to Bisceglie, in the narrow strip of Apulia among the gentle slopes of the Murge and plunges into the warm embrace of the Adriatic Sea. They had received news from a group of local farmers: some large stone slabs had emerged from the…
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Archangel Michael, the origins of the cult
A sword stroke resounds in the air; as if driven by tongues of unquenchable fire, it shakes the powers of heaven. The wings of Archangel Michael open mightily, his loose hair is shaken by an imperious quiver. Terrible in his gait, he hurls himself at the enemy with a battle cry: “Mīkā’el, who is like…
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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…