Rome's hidden secrets: The Magic Door
Today I want to tell the story of La Porta Magica (The Magic Door)
Rome is an universe made up of many small and big things. The Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain and all the other attractions that have made it famous; but also many details, stories and legends that not many people know.
La Porta Magica was the entrance of the esoteric laboratory of Marquis of Pietraforte Massimiliano Palombara, located today in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele (Esquilino district).
Here, about the mid 1600’s, the Marquis of Pietraforte, built Villa Palombara. Member of the esoteric order of Rosacroce, he was well known for his passion for the esoteric sciences and also to organize several secret meetings at his villa. What now remains of the villa, demolished in 1800, is believed to be the entrance to the laboratory where were carried out the experiments finances by himself. These experiments concerned the Porta Magica indeed.
His friend, the doctor and alchemist Francesco Giuseppe Borri, was persecuted and accused of heresy by the Inquisition and while he was a guest at the villa he decided to escape. According to legend he managed to run away through that door, leaving behind a few specks of gold and the mysterious parchments full of magic symbols that contained the secret of the philosopher’s stone (the legendary substance said to be capable of turning metals into gold). The Marquis had engraved on the five gates of Villa Palombara the content of the manuscript with the symbols, in the hope that one day someone could decipher them. Today, only one door lasts: the Porta Magica, so called because it is decorated with the alchemical symbols along the jambs of the door. Reading from bottom to top on the right, to drop down to the left, this signs follow the sequence of the planets to which is assigned a motto in Latin.
Secrets of Rome
Magic Door or Gate of Alchemy, is only one of the legends of the Eternal City.
Come visit us to discover others hidden secrets of Rome.
