San Paolino Archivi - Charme

Pompeii, discovered a monumental tomb with an epigraph of 4 meters

Charme — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 16:32:15 +0000

A monumental marble tomb with the longest funerary epigraph so far found. It was discovered in the archaeological site of Pompeii thanks to excavation activities in the San Paolino area near Porta Stabia, one of the accesses to the ancient city buried by Vesuvius. The inscription more than 4 meters long with seven narrative records, without mentioning the name of the deceased, details in detail the basic stages of life (acquiring of the virile and the wedding) and the description of the munitions activities that accompanied Such events (public banquets, liberal indulgences, organization of gladiator games and fighting with wild beasts).

L'articolo Pompeii, discovered a monumental tomb with an epigraph of 4 meters proviene da Charme.

The ancient city of the saints in the Roman cemetery

Sergio Gradogna — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 10:03:15 +0000

Welcome to Cimitile, the city of saints and a place of pilgrimage for senators and popes. Formerly known as Coemeterium when it was the necropolis of the town of Nola, its thirteen churches and ruined ancient basilicas are decorated with mosaics and frescoes which are some of the rarest examples of early Christian art in Europe. The history of Cimitile spans the warrior civilisations of the Ausonians, Oscans, Samnites, Etruscans and Greeks who contended the area before Rome’s legions took control in 314 BC, but its name derives from the coemeterium or cemetery built along the Via Popilia north of Nola used by early Christians. The first catacombs and crypts were dug here at the time of Christian persecution, but Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan (313 AD) transformed the ancient burial ground into a religious citadel, whose tiny chapels and cemeteries were converted into the first majestic churches. [charme-gallery]The basilica dedicated to Saint Felix is particularly famous. Born in Nola, the son of a rich merchant from Syria, Felix became a priest and was imprisoned and tortured before being miraculously released by an angel. He lived his entire life in poverty and died after 313 AD, but he is still venerated today by the Catholic Church with a shrine dedicated to him on the site of his tomb which Pope John Paul II visited in 1992. The building was extended to become a basilica in the late 4^th century by Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus, later known as Saint Paulinus. A Roman senator from Bordeaux, Paulinus had a troubled life and converted to Christianity after moving to Nola, where he had a second, larger basilica built near the church of Saint Felix, to whom Paulinus was devoted. The two basilicas were later extended to become a single complex, decorated with frescoes depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments as well as mosaics, capitals and bas-reliefs. The bell tower in the oldest part of the complex suggests that it was Saint Paulinus who first conceived the idea of church bells (then called nolae) and, indeed, he is the patron saint of bell-ringers. Cimitile was gradually transformed into a ‘holy city’ with the construction of numerous monasteries, churches and dwellings thus creating what is now the modern town. [charme-gallery]The town was frequently destroyed over the 250 years of Longobard dominion, and severe flooding in the 6^th century almost wiped Nola and its surrounding necropolises off the map. But pilgrimages kept the ancient saint’s legend alive and the people of Nola slowly rebuilt the complex, transforming the remains of the Nova basilica into a tomb building and including the apse and nave of Saint Felix’s into the church of Saint John the Baptist and Evangelist in the 12^th century. Other churches were also built, such as Saint Stephen’s (6^th century), Saint Thomas’s (11^th-12^th centuries). In the 9^th century, Bishop Leo III ordered the whole complex to be radically restructured to create the Holy Martyrs basilica housing ancient frescoes from the catacombs and a beautiful marble portico, as well as exquisite 10^th and 11^th century frescoes of the Passion of Christ and the Crucifixion. Leo III also had a 5^th century building on the western side of the basilica dedicated to Saint Calionius, embellishing it with an altar and niches depicting Saints Felix and Paulinus.[charme-gallery] In the 2000 Jubilee, the Cimitile basilicas became a major destination for pilgrims and, despite the devastation suffered over the centuries, the City of the Saints remains a unique archaeological and monumental complex providing an insight into early Christian art and culture with Romanic and Byzantine influences. The Antiquarium museum houses ancient epigraphs and artworks found on the site, making it a veritable pearl of religious and cultural beauty to be visited at least once in a lifetime.

L'articolo The ancient city of the saints in the Roman cemetery proviene da Charme.

Where 3000kg flowers dance

Sergio Gradogna — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:45:40 +0000

Lilies are normally associated with a child’s first communion in church and there are many lily festivals all over Italy, but the one held in Nola near Naples is the most famous Nola has been associated with many important figures throughout Italian history from the Roman Emperor Augustus, who died in the family home here in AD 14, to the heretical philosopher Giordano Bruno. However, it was the Bishop of Nola and inventor of church bells Saint Paulinus (Pontius Meropius Paulinus, AD 353-431) who inadvertently gave rise to the Lilies Festival in the 5^th century on his return from Africa where he had donated all his worldly goods to secure the release of some hostages taken by bandits When he disembarked at Oplontis (modern-day Torre Annunziata) he found the townspeople waiting for him, waving flags of the town’s professional guilds and corporations and holding fresh lilies. [charme-gallery]The bishop’s heroism was celebrated every year after that, with lilies carried on wooden, poles, stretchers and eventually on wooden towers so high that in the 17^th century the Bishop was forced to move the celebration to the square outside the church. Nowadays the eight wooden towers (each measuring up to 30m in height and named after the city guilds) are covered with papier-mâché decorations reflecting historical and religious themes or even current affairs in preparation for the ‘dance’ held on the first Sunday after June 21^st However, the highpoint of the Festival is the parade when 200 young men carry the massive, 300 kg towers around the town under the leadership of a representative from one of the eight guilds The parade route has remained unchanged for centuries and the tests the skill of the tower-bearers who are required to make 180° or 360 turns and even leap into the air when so ordered by the guild leader. The walls along the route are whitewashed so that the judges can see when a team bumps into them and hence decide which team has led the best ‘dance’. The final act takes place on the following day when the townspeople drag the towers into Piazza del Duomo where they stay for a few days before being dismantled.

L'articolo Where 3000kg flowers dance proviene da Charme.

The dance of the obelisks in honor of St. Paolino

Giorgio Gradogna — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:28:12 +0000

The machines swaying high over the crowd: upright toward the sky. As a pointing finger on clouds. Skyscrapers of wood and papier-mâché. This is the traditional rite of the Festa dei Gigli, religious kermesse that every year the community dedicated to St. Paolino of Nola, the patron of the city of Giordano Bruno.[charme-gallery] Among many folkloristic festivities, the Feast of the Gigli is without doubt one of the most spectacular. Its origins go back to the V cent. a.C., immediately after his death. The eight Gigli are very heavy wooden obelisks, 25 meters high and covered with imaginative and artistic papermache coverings: among them there is an imposing boat, in which remembers the sea crossed by S. Paolino for the return to his country. [charme-gallery]The Gigli and the boat are carried on the shoulders by a paranza of about 120 men who, with great skill make them dance, rotate and advance in involving march who finds place on the Sunday following the 22 June (23.06.2013) when, until late in the night, and always in the traditional order, the Gigli cross the roads of the historical center, in the jubilation of the population and in the wonder of the tourists (not to lose on Sunday morning).[charme-gallery]

L'articolo The dance of the obelisks in honor of St. Paolino proviene da Charme.