Descrizione
In the ancient villages, the bells rang at regular intervals, filling the air with their reassuring chimes that marked the passage of the day.
In Gradara, two bells ring out from two very different locations, yet both are equally linked to the town’s history, both sacred and secular.
The Gradara History Museum
In the Historical Museum, a miniature bell rings only if struck in just the right spot with a coin.
If the gong sounds, tradition has it that the visitor will have great luck. The bell is the final stop on a tour of a museum that traces some of the most grimly typical practices of an era when violence was the primary means of resolving a dispute.
Alongside a display of old weapons, including scale models of throwing machines and catapults, there is also a collection of faithful reproductions of instruments of torture, which were used to force even the most honourable of knights to speak – comprising whips, pickaxes, Procrustean beds and spiked chastity belts.
In addition to the weapons, the museum also provides access to a section of the many caves that wind through the underground of Gradara.
These tunnels were used to defend against constant battles but also to celebrate the pagan rites that the Church had banned.
