Pagan Cult Mosaic Found Under Cathedral

[Adsos Letter]

Source: Rossella Lorenzi,
Discovery News

Feb. 3, 2009 -- A Roman mosaic floor filled with scenes depicting pagan rites and oriental gods has emerged from the ground of a Catholic church in Italy, archaeologists announced.

The mosaic pavement, which measures 13 square meters (140 square feet) and dates to the fourth century A.D., was unearthed at a depth of about 4 meters (13 feet) below the the ground's surface during archaeological investigations in the crypt of the Cathedral of Reggio Emilia, in central-northern Italy.

"The size and design of the mosaic pavement suggest that it formed the floor of a huge room. We believe this was the residence of a wealthy Roman," Renata Curina, the archaeologist in charge of the dig, told Discovery News.

The fact that depictions of pagan gods had lain for hundreds of years just a few meters under the cathedral doesn't come too much as a surprise, according to the archaeologist.

"The church was built on top of preexisting building structures. This is rather normal in Reggio Emilia. We can see that little care was taken of the mosaic floor, since pillars are built on top of it," Curina said.

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there is a slideshow of the mosaic at the link: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/02/03/pagan-mosaic.html

[kickysnana]

1. 2000 yrs old. Our Hoyer battery purchased in June $300 just croaked. n/t

[Adsos Letter]

5. It's amazing, isn't it?

How much ancient artisanship has weathered the ravages of time.

[leftstreet]

2. Pagan Peacocks!

:D

That peacock is beautiful.

[Adsos Letter]

3. Some of the mosaic floors produced in antiquity are truly gorgeous...

and many have held up quite well, when protected from elements and human destruction. :hi:

[leftstreet]

4. Excellent slide show

Beautiful photos.

Thanks for posting!

:hi:

[Adsos Letter]

6. No problem...it was a well produced article....

and I love that stuff!

[orleans]

7. very cool. n/t

[Bigmack]

8. Half of the churches in Italy....

are built over pagan temples and mithraeums...

eg: Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

They wanted to get all the good juju from the old religion.

[MADem]

9. Neat! That pagan god in the mosaic looks like an old buddy of mine! nt

[murielm99]

10. There is a stained glass window in my church where

one of the angels looks like John Lennon.

[Eryemil]

11. Beautiful. Tragic however, how much as been lost at the hands...

...of Christian authority. Of course they did what any other heavily organized, viciously expansionist belief system would have done in order to establish their power.
But it's very sad nonetheless.

[aquart]

12. Sacred sites stay sacred sites.

The meaning and history gets rewritten by the new religion but the site remains sacred. It's because people are hidebound. If they always went to the well or the mountain, they just keep going. The Bible is full of complaints about it.

[Mari333]

13. The churches all over Europe built over the old sacred sites

I studied this for years. In Ireland, many of the churches have pagan motifs carved into the pews, this was to draw the pagans in, they didnt want to give up their goddesses and gods. Many of the altars in the churches in europe are built over old phallic stones that showed up after WW2 thanks to the bombings. Some of the churches in Ireland still had sheila na gigs on the older walls, remnants of a fertility goddess.
I would bet you the Vatican is built over a holy well.
cool site!