Descrizione
A mysterious underground world
Just a stone’s throw from the walls of Piagge, a door opens onto a small, mysterious underground world. Descending the tuff steps, smoothed by the passage of time, you enter the Piagge Hypogeum, an underground space carved out of the earth and steeped in history. The cave came to light following historical research into Piagge, begun in 1996 by the architect Gabriele Polverari.
It is a place that takes your breath away with the atmosphere it evokes.
This cave, created by human hands centuries ago, is unique in its kind, attracting visitors and scholars from all over the world. Even at first glance, one can appreciate one of the Hypogeum’s main features: the main corridor, intersected by horizontal branches, makes the visitor feel as though they are in the nave of a church carved directly into the bowels of the earth.
The layout of this space is, in fact, cruciform – a choice that cannot be coincidental and which has therefore lent credence to the hypothesis that the Hypogeum served a religious function, probably built at a time when Christianity was still considered a detestable religion and its followers were persecuted.
In addition to the basilica-style layout, another element supporting the sacred function of this place is the presence of ancient symbols attributable to an archaic form of Christianity, in which pagan icons are still intertwined. Both the walls and the vault are in fact decorated with engravings of a varied and mysterious nature, amongst which the so-called ‘flower of life’ stands out for its recurring pattern: a stylised, symmetrical six-petalled flower already in use in pre-Christian times.
The crosses of various sizes found in different parts of the cave are clearly of Christian origin, whilst the floral symbol – probably a lily – is more difficult to decipher; with its stylised form, it appears to blossom from three carved mounds set amongst the light-filled niches cut into the walls.
The Hypogeum harbours many other mysteries, uncertainties and hypotheses that make it so magical and still poised to reveal new discoveries.
