Camera Etrusca Photography Holidays & Workshops in Europe

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube
  • RSS
  • Home
  • About
    • Testimonials
  • Location
    • Tuscany & Umbria Landscapes
    • Accommodation
    • Wining and Dining
  • Photo Tours and Workshops
    • Exclusive Photo Tours and Guided Tours
    • Master Class
    • Typical Tuscan Photo Tour
    • Rome Photo Tours
    • Venice Photo Tours
  • Dates and Prices
  • FAQ
    • What to Bring
  • Contact
  • Blog

Poggio Conte – Part 2

Posted on 25 January 2014 by patnicholas in ETRUSCAN PLACES, LOST SITES, PHOTO WORKSHOPS and PHOTO TOURS in ITALY No Comments
altar Poggio Conte

There is an extraordinary atmosphere in the sacred glade so it is no surprise that this has been a sacred place for thousands of years.
The Sacred Glade was Christianised, but something of the ancient magic remained: the frescoes that remain in the church are testimony to that. The church was cut into the rock by the Franciscans in the XIII century and from them it possibly passed to the Templars.

  • the sacred glade of St Colombo
  • the sacred glade of St Colombo
  • phalli and yoni
  • poggio conte st Colomba interior
  • the sacred glade of St Colombo
  • the sacred glade of St Colombo
  • phalli and yoni
  • poggio conte st Colomba interior

Cycladic woman

Cycladic statue

The interior was frescoed, a semi circle of  the apostles, but these sadly were brutally hacked off  (you can see the signs above the arch) and sold illegally in the 1960s. Thankfully they were later recovered and they are now in the Ischia di Castro Museum.
Some frescoes survive mainly over the alter. These manifest the close ties between the ancient church and the popular beliefs still prevalent in the Italian countryside.
Worship is an inaccurate word for the pagan rites that took place here, it implies adoration of an omnipotent God whereas the rituals that the Etruscans and others practised were more about celebrating oneness with nature and the cosmos. The deities could have been several: Turan, the Etruscan Venus; Minerva; or the male deity Fufluns, the Etruscan Bacchus. Bacchanalia are usually associated with the Romans (and parties organised by the Italian Prime Minister) but similar rites are  common to all antique cultures and survive even today in aboriginal peoples.

flying phalli

curious (for a Christian church) frescoes above the altar

In pre-Christian Italy it was common practise to hold rites in a Sacred Grove. Making music was integral: drums, tambourines, castanets, pipes, trumpets and dancing to the point of ecstasy. Singing too, even yelling were part of the ritual. The ancient world was much darker and almost silent by modern standards – and a lot more dangerous; thus the sense of hearing would have had a much greater importance in respect to sight. A place like the sacred glade would have been chosen for magical rights because of its extraordinary acoustics.

poggio conte waterfall

cascade from above

Scientists in the field of archeo-acoustics from Princeton University have recently found that the resonance found in caves, grottoes and amphitheatres like Stonehenge have a  frequency of 110 Hz which in turn has an effect on the left hemisphere of the brain, damping it and causing an asymmetry in the pre-fontal cortex leading to a predominance of the right side. The result is a diminution of the centres of language and a heightening of the emotions. This would have strengthened the emotional charge of those participating in mystical ceremonies.   If alcohol and possibly other drugs were added to the alchemy then it is easy to imagine participants becoming entranced and feeling they were passing from one dimension to another.

I have shot a number of pictures in the sacred glade, for example Nacht und Träume
and Bacchanalia

Related posts:

Poggio Conte Eremo san ColombaPoggio Conte – Part 1, The Sacred Glade ripatonna cicogninaHidden Treasure to photograph: the hermitage of Ripatonna, South Tuscany. Sorano Via Cava, Sacred WayPitigliano, Sorano & Sovana,The Sacred Ways S.Lorenzo.vecchio_LakeBolsenaHidden treasure to photograph: Octagonal Church Ruin in Val di Lago, Bolsena

Powered by YARPP.

archeo-acoustics, Etruria, etruscan, Ischia di Castro, paganism, phallus, Poggio Conte, shamanism, yoni

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search

contact: Patrick Nicholas

  • +39 347 2752630
  • info@cameraetrusca.com
  • Contact Us
    • Facebook
    • Google+
    • Vimeo
    • YouTube
    • Pinterest
    • Linkedin

Categories

  • Endangered (1)
  • ETRUSCAN PLACES (20)
    • Civita Bagnoregio (1)
    • Lake Bolsena (2)
    • Pitigliano (2)
    • Pitigliano Little Jerusalem (1)
    • Sorano & Sovana (1)
    • The Sacred Ways (1)
    • Vulci (2)
  • Festivals in Tuscia (1)
  • GETTING ABOUT (3)
    • new Discovery for Camera Etrusca (1)
  • ITALIAN WAY OF LIFE (4)
    • Orvieto Olive Oil (1)
  • Landscape Photography (1)
  • LOST SITES (12)
  • PHOTO WORKSHOPS and PHOTO TOURS in BOHEMIA (1)
  • PHOTO WORKSHOPS and PHOTO TOURS in ITALY (18)
  • PHOTO WORKSHOPS and PHOTO TOURS in PORTUGAL (1)
  • PHOTOGRAPHY KIT, tips and accessories (7)
    • filters in the digital age (1)
    • instant smoke (1)
    • is film dead? (1)
    • what digital camera? (1)
  • Picturesque (1)
  • POST PRODUCTION (2)
    • making photo books (1)
    • Showing Off (1)
  • Rome (4)
  • Uncategorized (1)

Recent Post

  • Radicofani and the Grand Tour – Part 2 2 July 2020
  • Old Transparencies 16 November 2018
  • Fixing a stuck zoom and sensor cleaning 27 July 2018
  • Photo Workshops in Lisbon and the Coast. Start dates: May 25 and November 2. 12 March 2018
  • Winter Photo Workshop in Bohemia, Part 1 23 February 2018

Related Posts

  1. Poggio Conte – Part 1, The Sacred Glade
  2. Hidden Treasure to photograph: the hermitage of Ripatonna, South Tuscany.
  3. Pitigliano, Sorano & Sovana,The Sacred Ways
  4. Hidden treasure to photograph: Octagonal Church Ruin in Val di Lago, Bolsena

Photo Workshops, Photo Tours and Learning Holidays

  • cypress grove on via Cassia Tuscany
  • Flying Devil carries prostitute
  • Patrick Nicholas ruins Castro
  • Cahen_Tomb
  • Castelluccio_Norcia.wild_flowers.PatrickNicholas.-0960
  • Radicofani
  • Vatican.roof.saints.PatrickNicholas.-6965
  • corpus_domini_orvieto.PatrickNicholas
  • S.Lorenzo.vecchio_LakeBolsena

Camera Etrusca --- Corso Cavour, 176 05018 Orvieto - Umbria , IT
p.iva (VAT) 01815061203

Click here to call my mobile: +39 3472 752630

Please click here to send a text message to my mobile, if you can’t get through.

email: info [at] cameraetrusca.com

©2020 Camera Etrusca - Photo Workshops - Patrick Nicholas Photographer