Today placed on the wall in the gardens of Piazza Vittorio, the Alchemy Gate is the only survivor of the five existing in Palombara Villa, residence of the Marquis at the time. It has a structure of a door made of stone, on whose sides are engraved alchemical and esoteric symbols, while on the arc of the lost door on the other side there was an inscription that allows to state that it was built around 1680, but the interest of Palombara marquis for alchemy was probably due to its attendance since 1656 of the court of Queen Christina of Sweden, who was a passionate fellow of alchemy and science.
According to the legend, handed down in 1802 by scholar Girolamo Francesco Cancellieri, one night a mysterious pilgrim in search of refreshment was housed in the villa. The traveler, identified as the alchemist Francesco Giuseppe Borri, stayed for a night in the gardens of the villa looking for a mysterious herb capable of producing the gold.
Therefore the Marquis had engraved on the five doors of Palombara villa and on the walls of the mansion, the content of the enigmatic manuscript, in the hope that one day someone would be able to decipher it.
However over time the alchemy lost value within a large, more and more modern range of sciences, and even today the riddles posed by the Marquis remain so, and probably will remain so forever. Perhaps not as spectacular as the view of the Colosseum, nor as old as the Pantheon, the Alchemical door however keeps alive a dark and intriguing charm that only a single alchemical artifact in the world like this can own. Therefore, if you will pass by the Belpaese and visit its dazzling capital, do not miss this small, hidden gem: you could discover the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone!
