The sword in the stone really exists, embedded in a boulder in the center of the Rotunda or Montesiepi hermitage in Tuscany, protected by a glass case as a result of several attempts to extract that have caused the break up to the hilt. Were the results of investigations of researchers of the University of Pavia, Milan, Padua and Siena to establish that the entire sword hilt belongs to a really deep in the rock. It is said that in 1180 the knight Galgano Guidotti has driven a sword when he gave up the comforts of life of a noble who had led until then. This is one of the many miracles of the saint is the only known, because after more than 800 years is still visible. It all began in the medieval Tuscan Chiusdino, a village not far from Siena. Here, in 1148, was born Galgano Guidotti. The young man is soon attracted by the cavalry. After an initial vision of St. Michael, decided to become a knight. After a period his profligate life characterized by a behavior that will bring grief to his parents who had long awaited his birth, to the point of going on pilgrimage to the Basilica of St. Michael on Mount Gargano in Puglia. But fate would have it, Galgano, after a second viewing of San Michele, decisively changed the course of his life from that moment devoted himself to God and the hermitage. The sword stuck in the rock rises like a cross and that there Galgano please. The rider died of starvation in 1181. Shortly afterwards, Pope Urban III proclaims him Holy. Him today that the skull remains, preserved in the church of Chiusdino. It is said that it grew hair, so to be appointed guardian of San Galgano bald. The entire body was never found, although some sources indicate that the burial place of 'Hermitage Montesiepi which was built above the old shack where San Galgano lived the last years of his life. The similarities with the stories of King Arthur ', the knights of the Round Table and the quest for the Grail are numerous. If you let yourself be fascinated by the legend, one can not mention one of his dreams by Galgano, where he met Jesus and the twelve apostles seated around a round table and saw the Holy Grail. Maybe it's just coincidence also fueled by the evocative medieval settings as a backdrop to the story of Galgano. How to ignore the fact that not far from the hill on which stood the hut of the Saints are still see the remains of a Cistercian abbey that evokes the thought already famous legends of medieval knights, a place where the atmosphere is magical, reflecting a time in which great events took place.
Angela Francesca D'Atri
