According to the Holy Scriptures, all Jewish purification rites take place "per aquas" (by water). The water used for bathing must be very pure, and cannot be transported by hand or pipes. The mikveh must therefore be connected to a natural source or an aquifer; it can also be fed by rainwater or ...

Unleavened bread, i.e. bread with no yeast, is a type of bread prepared with grain flour and water, like all other bread, but without the fermentation process. Unleavened bread is used as a ritual food during Passover in memory of the hasty exodus from Egypt, during which, according to the Bible an...

The etymology of the Latin word catacumba is uncertain. It is thought to derive from the Greek locution katá kymbḗs: "near the caves." These underground cemetery areas were usually excavated in the tuff and could be even thirty meters deep. The most famous catacombs were the Christian ones: the...

Ovid's Metamorphoses tells the story of a beautiful nymph named Cyane who fell in love with young Anapos. One day, the nymph was walking with her friend Persephone on the shore of a lake. While the young girl was picking flowers, Hades, god of the underworld and in love with Persephone, decided to...

The Corinthian order is one of the architectural orders of the Greek-Roman period; its capital is characterised by decorations of acanthus leaves. [dettaglio_immagine id="18776"]...

Bossage is a particular construction and decorative technique consisting of stone blocks overlapping and marked in the joints, worked in relief, rough-hewn or diamond rusticated....

Outpost is a military term used in architecture to indicate a building constructed in front of a defensive line. In ancient times, it referred to watchtowers and signal towers....

Aristotle was a philosopher and scientist from ancient Greece. He was born in Stagira, an ancient Greek colony in Thrace, in 384 BC, and alongside Plato and Socrates, is considered the father of Western philosophy. His philosophy was based on the research of Plato, his teacher, for an eternal and ...

Houël was a French painter, architect and engraver who undertook his Grand Tour to Sicily in 1776. The artist had intended to travel for only one year, but it took him over three years to document the infinite riches of this place. In Sicily, Houël wrote a diary where he transcribed his impressi...

Archimedes was the most brilliant scientist and inventor of the ancient world. He was born in Syracuse in 287 BC and was a mathematician, astronomer, engineer and physicist. He dedicated his whole life to the research and creation of his machines: around 40 inventions are attributed to him....