🇮🇹 Exploring Brescia III: The Mystical Rotunda of Duomo Vecchio

📍 Destination: Il Duomo Vecchio (Old Cathedral) | Brescia, Italy 🏰 A Rare Romanesque Round Church Built in the 11th century atop a 6th-century Christian basilica (Santa Maria Maggiore de Dom), this circular cathedral is an architectural enigma. Expanded by Bishop Berardo Maggi in the 13th century and later enhanced with Gothic vaults, its underground crypt still guards the relics of St. Filastrio. 🌀 Why a Circle? The Sacred Geometry Debate Scholars argue its shape mimics: ◯ Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulchre (the Anastasis Rotunda) ◯ Pagan temples (circular = divine perfection in "heathen geometry") ◯ Alchemical symbolism (more below!) 🔮 The Cosmic Symbolism of the Circle ◯ Sacred Perfection → Equal distance from center = divine harmony ⬜ Square = Earth | ◯ Circle = Heaven → Octagon (baptisteries = rebirth) 🐍 Ouroboros (snake biting its tail) = eternal renewal, infinite cycles of destruction/creation "The circle is unity, infinity, and the eternal return—all endings are new beginnings." ✨ #HistoryLovers #SacredGeometry #Brescia #Italy #TravelDeep #Architecture #Symbolism #Alchemy #HiddenHistory 🏛️🌀📜