-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Dopo aver trovato la cache avrete davanti a voi il duomo...camminate in diagonale e in un pilastro aderente al campanile troverete il labirinto. La cache è un un small box.
After you have found the cache, you'll have in front of you The Dome...walk towards it and in one of the pillars next to the bell tower you'll se the labyrinth.
THE LABYRINTH
A labyrinth is a sacred path and space used for prayer, meditation, and contemplation. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has a single path to the center and back. It is walked in an attitude of prayer and meditation.
They have been known to the human race for over 3,500 years, conjuring up such A Labyrinth images as the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur Labyrinths have this purpose: they are designed to help us find our way. They have only one path--from the outer edge into the center and back out again. Through the act of trusting the path, of giving up conscious control of how things should go and being receptive to our inner state, we can be opened up to a whole new world. It seems that through the beautiful flow of their sacred patterns, labyrinths help us ground ourselves.
At the Lucca labyrinth, one traces the pattern with one's finger in order to quiet the mind before entering the cathedral.
The pattern is identical to Chartres. It can be difficult to date a maze. The cathedral at Lucca was built in 1060,
and the maze is widely described on the web as being ninth century. This would make it far older than the Chartres maze, and perhaps the original. However, the maze is scratched onto a wall in the porch (which was made in 1204), and may have been done much later. Did someone copy the Chartres maze, or was this the original pattern?
This stone represents the Cretan's Labyrinth. Those who enter cannot leave unless they be helped, like Theseus,
by Ariadne's thread.
LUCCA'S DOME
Bishop Frediano commissioned the building of the church of San Martino in the 6th century and the edifice advanced to the status of cathedral in the 8th century. Another bishop of Lucca and Pope Alexander II rebuilt it a couple of centuries apart.
On the latter version, Guidetto da Como created its façade: a series of loggias resting on pillars and an atrium packed
with bas-reliefs (1233) depicting the four stories of St Martin, the dispute with the Aryans and the Martyrdom of San Regolo.
The great sculptor, Nicola Pisano, added a Nativity and Deposition. The porch is decorated with the tasks of the 12 months of the year, from giving a girl roses to laughtering a pig.
Inside, the cathedral's pride and joy is the Volto Santo ('Holy Face'), an ancient wooden statue of a bearded Christ on the Cross, fully dressed, with a feminine tace - said to bave been carved by St Nicodemus. The cross is rumoured to
contain relics - hairs of Christ, a phial of blood and, believe or not, Our Lord's prepuce.
The marble figure of Ilaria del Carretto is Lucca's greatest monument. Maria, the 19-year-old wife of nobleman Paolo Guinigi, died in childbirth at the beginning of the 15th century. Short of freezing ber head, there is nothing more sculptor Jacopo della Quercia could have done to immortalise her. The beautiful young woman seems to have fallen asleep on a cushion. At her feet is an alert lapdog, a symbol of fidelity. Other important works in the cathedral include: Last Supper by Tintoretto or his school (16th century) in the third altar; Madonna with Child by Domenico Ghirlandaio (15th century) in the sacristy; Resurrection by Giambologna (16th century) in the so-called Freedom Chapel at the top of the left nave; Madonna and Child between Two Saints by Fra Bartolomeo (16th century) in the Madonna of the Sanctuary Chapel; and Holy Apostle (1416) by Jacopo della Quercia (in the left transept). There is also much fine work by Matteo Civitali, Lucca's best sculptor, including the pulpit, baptistry font and the tombs of Domenico Bertini and Pietro da Noceto in the south transept.
------------------------------------------------------------
Il labirinto che si trova sul pilastro del Duomo di Lucca è identico a quello di Chartres in Francia. E difficile sapere la data esatta. Il Duomo è stato costruito nel 1060, ma il labirinto potrebbe essere stato fatto nel secolo IX, se fosse così il labirinto sarebbe più vecchio di quello di Chartres. Qualcuno avrebbe potuto copiare a Chartres o questo potrebbe essere l'originale?...
Secondo Platone, il primo labirinto della storia umana sarebbe quello di Atlantide, fatto di cerchi concentrici alternati di terra e di mare, con la parte di terra unita da ponti.
Da sempre il labirinto simboleggia un percorso interiore attraverso il quale lo spirito si può evolvere e innalzare ad un livello superiore. Il centro del labirinto, secondo Mircea Eliade, rappresenterebbe la sacralità. Il cammino tortuoso per arrivarci assumerebbe quindi una funzione di protezione del sacro nei confronti dei profani, essendone riservato l’accesso ai soli iniziati: la difesa di un luogo sacro, di un tesoro molto prosaico (fatto di denaro o di beni materiali) o spirituale (immortalità, virtù, elevazione al divino, conoscenza di sé).
Il labirinto è stato utilizzato anche come sistema di difesa alle porte delle città fortificate; per esempio, era tracciato sulle piante delle antiche città greche. Voleva simboleggiare la difesa della città o della casa che si considerava al centro del mondo. La difesa era rivolta sia verso gli avversari umani, sia contro le influenze malefiche.
Nel Medioevo le più famose rappresentazioni del labirinto si trovano sul pavimento delle cattedrali gotiche, tra cui
quella di Chartres. Il labirinto di Chartres è uno dei meglio conservati ed è il più grande giunto dall'epoca medievale ai nostri giorni.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Neevingv nyyr pbbeqvangr irqergr qryyr obppur.... Neevirq ng gur pbbeqvangrf lbh'yy frr....... bcra zbhguf....