Turin and Northern Italy
Northern Italy holds some of the most evocative places in Europe's esoteric geography. Turin, with its reputation as a magical city suspended between light and shadow, opens a journey that crosses the Alps and the plain as far as the Venetian lagoon. Here we meet the Gran Madre di Dio and the Fontana Angelica, Piazza Statuto and the Egyptian Museum, but also Mount Musinè and the abbey of the Sacra di San Michele, perched above the Susa Valley. Further east, Milan preserves the Devil's Column and the secrets of its cathedral, Venice the uneasy fame of Ca' Dario and Poveglia, Bologna the three arrows of Strada Maggiore. Triora recalls the witch trials of the sixteenth century, Valcamonica its rock carvings and the Camunian rose, Trento the Council that reshaped the relationship between the Church and the occult arts. On every page we carefully separate documented history from legend, which we present as such: precious traditions, not truths to be accepted without scrutiny.
Turin and the double triangle of white and black magic
Turin as the shared vertex of two magic triangles with Lyon, Prague, London and San Francisco: the modern origins of a legend and the places tied to it.
3 min read2Turin and Northern ItalyThe Gran Madre di Dio in Turin and the legend of the Grail
History of the church of the Gran Madre di Dio, built for the return of King Victor Emmanuel I, and of the legend linking its statues to the Holy Grail.
3 min read3Turin and Northern ItalyThe Fontana Angelica in Piazza Solferino between allegory and mystery
Giovanni Riva's Fontana Angelica in Turin: the history of the work, its allegory of the seasons and symbolic readings that saw in it the Temple's pillars.
3 min read4Turin and Northern ItalyPiazza Statuto, the black heart of Turin in legend
Piazza Statuto in Turin: the Fréjus tunnel monument, memories of burial grounds and gallows, and the modern legend that makes it the city's black heart.
3 min read5Turin and Northern ItalyThe Egyptian Museum of Turin, from the Mensa Isiaca to Champollion
From the Mensa Isiaca studied by Kircher to the Drovetti collection and Champollion: how the Egyptian Museum made Turin a capital of imagined Egypt.
3 min read6Turin and Northern ItalyPalazzo Madama, two thousand years of history in one building
From Roman gate to Acaja castle, from home of the Madame Reali to astronomical observatory: the layered history of Palazzo Madama in Turin.
3 min read7Turin and Northern ItalyMount Musinè, the mountain of legends in the Susa Valley
Mount Musinè at the mouth of the Susa Valley: the tradition of Constantine's vision, the legend of Herod, ancient rock carvings and modern myths.
3 min read8Turin and Northern ItalyThe Sacra di San Michele, the abbey suspended over the Susa Valley
The Sacra di San Michele on Mount Pirchiriano: tenth-century foundation, Stairway of the Dead, Zodiac Door, the legend of fair Alda and the Michael line.
3 min read9Turin and Northern ItalyMilan Cathedral between the Holy Nail, the meridian and symbols
Milan Cathedral beyond its façade: the founding in 1386, the Holy Nail and the Nivola rite, the meridian line of 1786 and its vast population of statues.
3 min read10Turin and Northern ItalyThe Devil's Column and the mysteries of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan
In Milan's Piazza Sant'Ambrogio a Roman column with two holes recalls the duel between saint and devil; inside the basilica waits the bronze serpent.
3 min read11Turin and Northern ItalyCa' Dario, the Grand Canal palace and its reputation for a curse
Ca' Dario on the Grand Canal: Giovanni Dario's Renaissance palace, the inscription on its façade, the legendary anagram and its fame as a cursed house.
3 min read12Turin and Northern ItalyPoveglia, the lagoon island between quarantines and legends
The island of Poveglia in the Venetian lagoon: medieval settlement, quarantine station, twentieth-century hospice and modern legends to treat with caution.
3 min read13Turin and Northern ItalyCorte Botera and the secret thresholds of hidden Venice
Corte Botera in the Castello district: the legend of thresholds to other worlds, Byzantine paterae on the arches and the echo of Hugo Pratt's Venice.
3 min read14Turin and Northern ItalyTriora and the witch trials of the sixteenth century
Triora, a village in inland Liguria, and its witchcraft trials of 1587-1589: famine, accusations, the commissioner Scribani and the memory kept there today.
3 min read15Turin and Northern ItalyThe three arrows of Strada Maggiore and the secrets of Bologna
Beneath the portico of Casa Isolani on Strada Maggiore three arrows remain stuck in the ceiling: the legend, the portico's history and Bologna's other secrets.
3 min read16Turin and Northern ItalyBologna's Neptune, Giambologna's Giant and its riddles
Giambologna's Fountain of Neptune in Bologna: papal patronage, symbols of power, the legend of the stone of shame and the meridian line of San Petronio.
3 min read17Turin and Northern ItalyGenoa, the Sacro Catino and the treasures of the cathedral of San Lorenzo
Genoa's Sacro Catino, believed to be the Grail and carved from an emerald, the ashes of Saint John the Baptist and the secrets of San Lorenzo cathedral.
3 min read18Turin and Northern ItalyBergamo Alta, a stone labyrinth of walls, Colleoni and Lotto
Bergamo Alta as a symbolic labyrinth: the medieval maze motif, the Venetian walls, the Colleoni Chapel and the enigmatic inlays designed by Lorenzo Lotto.
3 min read19Turin and Northern ItalyValcamonica, its rock carvings and the mystery of the Camunian rose
Valcamonica, Italy's first UNESCO site: the rock carvings of the Camunni, the Naquane park and the Camunian rose, an ancient sign that became Lombardy's emblem.
3 min read20Turin and Northern ItalyTrento and the Council: the Church facing magic and astrology
The Council of Trent (1545-1563), the city of the prince-bishops and the Index of 1564 that condemned judicial astrology, geomancy and necromancy.
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