When organizing a trip or trip, you are always looking for original and engaging experiences. Fortunately, not every time it is necessary to move away from home: in fact, if you dispose of patience and imagination, it is possible to find magical places around the corner, as in the case of what have been defined as the “Italian pyramids“Due to the similarity with the ancient temples of the populations of Central America, the large pyramidal buildings typical of pre -Columbian civilizations.
You are ready to discover a unique site of its kind that will bring you in An adventure in perfect Indian style Jones?
Where? In Bomarzo
We are in the North-western Laziomore precisely a Bomarzoin Province of Viterbo. The area is rich in archaeological finds, even if the origins of its first inhabitants remain wrapped in mystery. A certain fact is that the area was intensely populated by Etruscans and the Romans.
Italian pyramids: the discovery
In the 1991 Something attracts attention in the dense of the Bomarzo spot: a great Stone of the preacher that stands out of the ground. The preacher’s stones are often found in the Tuscia and in Etruscan territoryand consist of monoliths of variable dimensions worked with steps that lead to the top.
The presence of this stone of the preacher in the woods of Bomarzo was actually known to the elderly of the place practically always. However, what distinguished this specimen from his fellows scattered throughout the territory was, however, the considerable greatness.
In the 2008 a massive work of cleaning the ruin is started And day after day, a gigantic artifact emerges from the ground. At work done, a massive block of worked peperino rises from the ground, a truncated pyramid of the size of 8 x 16 meters. All around there is the presence of tombs, modeling boulders decorated with cups, ancient shards, rock tombs, precious testimonies of the human presence since the most remote times.
The structure
The pyramid can be reached from the bottom and manifests itself as you approach, in an amazement that grows at every step.
You are displaced in the face of such a mighty and ancestral magnificence. In total the work is composed of 35 steps divided into two orders of stairwaysrespectively from 26 and 9 steps, the hips have two large rooms, skirted by trays and canal.
In short, it is a sort of pyramid, which not so much recalls the Egyptian architecture, as mesoamerics, such as Mayan temples.
Origin and function
The function of the preacher’s stones, even if not certain, traditionally will be traced back to the sphere of the sacred and identifies them as altars aimed at the celebrations in vogue in Etruscan era. It is good to specify that at the moment no archaeological investigation has been scientifically conducted on the pyramid and regarding the dating of the monolith there is no univocal theory. Probably his processing It can be placed around the VII-IV AChowever, there are bold theses that retrocad the pyramid to the Villanovian period (XI AC).
The similarity with the Mesoamerican constructions
The archaeoastronomic studies carried out on the preacher’s stone have highlighted how much his arrangement can make it perfectly compatible with the typical use of Mayan pyramids: that of Astronomical Observatory.
From the top it is possible not only to observe the movements of the sun and the moon, but also to have a privileged vision of the two stars Sirio and Antares.
The orientation of the top to the northwest, or the direction in which the ancients identify the home of the gods of the underworld, also suggests its possible use as altar intended for ritual sacrifices. In light of this interpretation, therefore, the canal and the side trays would take the function of drags of drain for sacrificial liquids (including, as some theories suggest, human or animal blood).
How to reach the Bomarzo pyramid
The charm of this place also lies in the difficulty that can be found in reaching it. The Bomarzo pyramid can be reached mainly in two ways: crossing the suggestive Via Cava delle Rocchette or passing through the Necropolis of Santa Cecilia.
The second option may be faster: after passing the Via cava You immerse yourself in the Boschiva stain, following a path that winds through the trees.
So you don’t need to buy a plane ticket to discover the wonders of a suggestive place with exotic features, but just point the compass towards The precious Etruscan lands of the Lazio Region.
Have a good trip!
