In one of the corners of the park inside the central Roman square of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II (familiarly called "Piazza Vittorio" by the Romans), amid the mix of market stalls, traffic noise, the international atmosphere of the shops run by Chinese and Indian people, and the old late 19th Century buildings, and people rushing everywhere, standing there quietly there is a riddle made of stone, awaiting a skillful code-breaker to solve it.
The gate is what remains of the former palace of the Marquise Palombara, who built it in the second half of 17 Century, and which has been demolished to build today's Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II.
The Marquise Palombara, who was interested in Alchemy, and who was one of the alchemists of the Palazzo Riario (currently home to the Accademia dei Lincei, the world's most ancient scientific academy), the most illustrious of which was Queen Christina of Sweden, who moved to Rome and who studied alchemy, having been influenced by the great mathematician and scientist Cartesius, who was her teacher when she was young. We know from the ancient reports that he had his palace on the Esquilino hill built with symbols related to Alchemy.
The legend has it that the Magic Gate was built after a mysterious pilgrim was hosted in the villa for one night, and that, the following morning, he disappeared leaving behind some gold leaves and a sheet of paper explaining the secret to perform an achemcal transmutation. Bring unable to interpret what was written in symbols on the paper, the Marquise decided to have those symbols engraved on the Gate (according to some historians, on all of the 5 gates of the villa, 4 or which were lost) hoping that someone could decipher it.
So the Porta Magica is still standing there, awaiting the skillful code-breaker who can discover the secret to create gold.
The gate is what remains of the former palace of the Marquise Palombara, who built it in the second half of 17 Century, and which has been demolished to build today's Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II.
The Marquise Palombara, who was interested in Alchemy, and who was one of the alchemists of the Palazzo Riario (currently home to the Accademia dei Lincei, the world's most ancient scientific academy), the most illustrious of which was Queen Christina of Sweden, who moved to Rome and who studied alchemy, having been influenced by the great mathematician and scientist Cartesius, who was her teacher when she was young. We know from the ancient reports that he had his palace on the Esquilino hill built with symbols related to Alchemy.
The legend has it that the Magic Gate was built after a mysterious pilgrim was hosted in the villa for one night, and that, the following morning, he disappeared leaving behind some gold leaves and a sheet of paper explaining the secret to perform an achemcal transmutation. Bring unable to interpret what was written in symbols on the paper, the Marquise decided to have those symbols engraved on the Gate (according to some historians, on all of the 5 gates of the villa, 4 or which were lost) hoping that someone could decipher it.
So the Porta Magica is still standing there, awaiting the skillful code-breaker who can discover the secret to create gold.
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