A Night of "Magic" Torino, the Occult Underground

Torino, line many cities with an ancient past, has a history of the Occult and religious beliefs that today would seem silly. I definitely was not silly to the Women branded as witches and the Men branded in a like manner. Torino had a history of hangings in the central Piazza mostly in the 17th and 18th centuries. In fact, history says the hangmen were so disliked (it could be you next) that the city had to pas an ordinance protecting their rights to services and access to food. I would assume they were not alone in this need.

The nighttime tour(it started at 9pm) took us around to various spots and buildings and sculptures in the city that had history. Many of the buildings have stone carvings protecting their windows and doors.
This sculpture is an eerie representation of men trying to climb out of the underground, Hades, whatever you want to call it.
The angel Michael is guarding the entry to the Upper world. All very steeped in tradition, religion and folklore, Just about every culture thru the ages has had a version of St. Michael (Mars in Roman, Ares in Grecian culture, Horus in Egyptian) And the stories are similar. Protect ion from the underworld, which also is common in these cultures.
So there are many different ways that were used over the years as a protection.
Here are some of the carvings in the buildings and on doors.
Many doors and entryways are elaborate carvings when looked at closely represent good (angels and people) or are designed to ward off evil (gargoyles). Its interesting that many of these were built into the homes of the very wealthy for protection, as well as into the entry points of Bank buildings and churches. Even then, they new where the challenge points to evil began.

During the day, you would probably pass by these moldings and hardly even notice them, but at night, they have an eerie significance all their own.
Torino is also known as the home of the Shroud of Turin, the cloth that was supposedly wrapped around Christ for his burial. It is not currently on Display and they are making a new church to contain it. But it is represented in the square by the symbol on the wall in the Piazza Reale (Royal Square)

This is the facade of the Royal Palace Which was the home to the last royal  family.

As you might imagine, there are parts of Italian history that they do not like, like the German occupation during WW II. Mussolini's Fascist built a very conspicuous headquarters in the late 30's and also occupied several of the palaces for their dominion. The tall thin building, Taller than any other structure in Torino,  was their headquarters during the war.

There are many more pictures of ghost and goblins (appropriate for Halloween eve) in the picture on my link here  Torino Magic