Captain Leale Martelli - The Odyssey in the Realms of Time

[LITTLE DOCTOR]

I would like to tell you another anecdote about the ways in which the stern castle was placed in the cave inside the hill La Poggia. Since the quarterdeck could not alone give the idea of a ship, Roberto da Volterra devised a way to give the idea of an entire ship. Inside the cave there was a huge boulder that gave the impression of a keel of a ship. Roberto asked Limoncino to build from that stone a sculpture that represented a ship where to lay on the quarterdeck.
Once Limoncino and his team finished the job, really it seemed to see a real ship.
When, centuries later, Leale Martelli entered the cave he thought to see a petrified ship, a kind of fossil, but it was really stone.
Told so it seems very simple, but it did not. No one wanted to go into the cave, it was a strange and dangerous place. Limoncino's men, and himself, said that this was the romitone reign and that they did not want to go inside. It was necessary a lot of effort to convince them. But in the end the idea of Roberto was carried out and it is said that the ship is still there ....

 

[LITTLE DOCTOR]

A premise: now begins the story of the child. A story that may seem boring, but that will be very important in the future.
Roberto was very impressed by what happened to the ship during the displacement stages. Limoncino noticed this trouble and said to Roberto: "squire (Limoncino called kindly in this way Roberto), I do not know what you brought from the Holy Land, but you were not the first. Centuries ago someone landed on these shores carrying something from the Holy Land. I do not know what led, but I know who he was: he was the Apostle James said Maggiore. Roberto, have a look, this church is dedicated to him. He landed in this port before going to Spain. If you want to know all the story, ask the the Preacher."
Roberto immediately reached the Preacher and asked for explanations. The Preacher became gloomy, almost irritated by Roberto request...

 

[LITTLE DOCTOR]

But Roberto insisted and when from his mouth came a curse, the Preacher knew that he just had to settle Roberto. The preacher took him to the prior, the only one who could authorize the preacher to tell everything to Roberto.
Reached the Prior, Roberto gets the information he wanted. According to a legend, perhaps a little more than a legend since a church right at that point was built, the apostle Giacomo called il Maggiore landing on the coast of Livorno (then Roman territory) brought with him two characters: a woman and a child. When he left for Spain, the woman and the child did not follow him.
At this point it is necessary to explain why the apostle Giacomo came in Livorno and although it is a bit complicated I will try to explain it.
The apostle Giacomo when he left for Spain was not going to arrive in Livorno, but something that happened on the ship where he had boarded made him change his itinerary.
On the Roman ship were numerous Roman legionaries injured. One of them, a veteran centurion, died during the trip, but he was not thrown into the sea as it was the custom to do. His comrades believed that he could come back to life. As well as that all the wounded could heal. Giacomo intrigued, asked explanations to a Roman soldier. The soldier replied that on Ardentia coasts, in the land of Liburnians, there was a natural cave where a fount, called Aquaviva, gushed, who could heal the wounded and even raise the dead who were pure of soul.
Those words hit Giacomo, who decided to stay in Livorno to attend the event in person. When they got there, the miracle happened: the dead centurion, once immersed in the water revived and the wounded healed. Giacomo was witness to the fact. Giacomo wondered if that was the work of God or the devil. Thus began his research. He stayed in that area for three months, even wanted to find out where it originated that source. He knew at once that did not come from the sea because it was not saltwater and discovered a small trickle of water wich powered the fount. Giacomo followed this trickle and saw that outside the cave became a great stream (this river is now called Rio Maggiore). The stream come down from the surrounding hills. Giacomo followed him to the source, at the top of a mountain near the Valle Benedetta. The mount then took the name of Monte Maggiore. It is unknown exactly what Giacomo found on the mountain, but it is certain that he could not understand the power of Acquaviva source.
However the place (Valle Benedetta) seemed safe And so the woman decided to stay there with the baby while Giacomo left for Spain.
Important Note: It is said that the remains of this woman are still kept in the church of the Benedetta Valle in a container with printed the name "Sancta Magdalena". Also it is said that the woman lived for several centuries, perhaps due to the powers of Acquaviva source and that the child was a child forever.
The source, for obvious reasons, over the centuries was hidden, even today the faithful of San Jacopo cave visit a fictional cave. The original cave stretches for several kilometers under the city of Livorno and ends at the Sambuca hermitage. It was an old way of communication between the two monasteries.

 

[LITTLE DOCTOR]

Continuing to talk about the child, we must add that the appearance at the Venetian ship was not the only one. It is said that in the fourth century, in the same area, the child appeared to St. Augustine while he was meditating on the beach. It is no coincidence that the Templars have become devotees of St. Augustine, to the point of wearing the cloaks of the Augustinian monks as a sign of recognition of the order. The history of the apparition to St. Augustine also fascinated a lot Leale Martelli. While staying at Valle Benedetta, Leale found inside a church apartment writings belonging to a parish priest who served in the early 1900s, a certain Don Egidio Coppelli.
Note: it is thought that the book written in the vulgar found by Leale Martelli in the Valle Benedetta church is indeed his work, or at least by him bound and guarded.
As I said, Leale found this document written by Don Egidio Coppelli, where the places where it was possible to find evidence of the child apparition to St. Augustine were shown. Leale Martelli wanted to go to check these places and took Carla with him to arouse less suspicion. Leale found the first evidence in San Gimignano in the choir of the church dedicated to St. Augustine, where there was a fresco of the painter Benozzo Gozzoli which described in minute detail the child's appearance to St. Augustine. This painting was of great historical importance because in addition to the appearance described very well the landscape around the St. Jacob's Church. At that time, as reported on the fresco, those territories belonged to the mountains of Pisa, Livorno did not yet exist.
The second test was in another fresco painted by Bernardino Poccetti. This painting had to be at the church of Santo Spirito in Florence. For obvious reasons, Lealecould not go to Florence in person, therefore commissioned Carla to go looking for it and photograph it. Carla had a friend who had worked as a waitress in Livorno at Villa Trumpy, home of Vivi Gioi, an Italian film actress. This friend lent to Carla the camera that is said belonged precisely to Vivi Gioi.
Carla went to Florence without Loyal, she found the fresco near the sacristy of the church, but unfortunately, because of her inexperience, she could not photograph the fresco. It is said that even forgot to put the roller photo. For this reason Leale could never see the fresco, but he trusted the word of Carla.

 

[TOURIST]

Hi All , I live in Tuscany so reading this history I realized I could give just a support to confirm the matter about Gozzoli's frescos in
sant'Agostino Church in San Gimignano. In this period in San Gimignano there is an exposure just dedicated to Benozzo Gozzoli.
Last week I took some photoes in that Church .............. watching carefully the fresco I noticed that Little Doctor is right.
Below You can see the images in question that prove without doubt what is described in the history .
I hope this help You in this very interesting history.

 

[LITTLE DOCTOR]

But why don Egidio Coppelli was so interested in the history of the child and of his appearances? According to a diary found by Leale Martelli in the apartments of the priest, Don Coppelli had a meeting with the child. The meeting took place more or less like this: Sunday morning of August 6, 1905, during the preparations of the Mass celebration in memory of the "God's Transfiguration", Don Coppelli saw a child standing front of the door that separated the church from the crypt of St. Felice.
The parish priest was perplexed seeing that child, not just for his clothes consists of a tunic with a belt at the waist, but also for the fact that he had never seen him. Don Coppelli asked the boy how he entered and where his mother was and if he was born in the land. The boy responded by saying that he wanted to serve Mass, he wanted to be an altar boy. Don Coppelli insisted wondering where his mother lived. The boy replied: "My mother has always been in this place, even before you came to this church" ...

 

[vario]

Hi All , I live in Tuscany so reading this history I realized I could give just a support to confirm the matter about Gozzoli's frescos in
sant'Agostino Church in San Gimignano. In this period in San Gimignano there is an exposure just dedicated to Benozzo Gozzoli.
Last week I took some photoes in that Church .............. watching carefully the fresco I noticed that Little Doctor is right.
Below You can see the images in question that prove without doubt what is described in the history .
I hope this help You in this very interesting history.

Great,thank you very much

 

[Frances Reynolds]

Hi All , I live in Tuscany so reading this history I realized I could give just a support to confirm the matter about Gozzoli's frescos in
sant'Agostino Church in San Gimignano. In this period in San Gimignano there is an exposure just dedicated to Benozzo Gozzoli.
Last week I took some photoes in that Church .............. watching carefully the fresco I noticed that Little Doctor is right.
Below You can see the images in question that prove without doubt what is described in the history .
I hope this help You in this very interesting history.

Hello Tourist, thank you for the images and input.
It's all welcome and interesting to this ongoing story.
Frances.

 

[TOURIST]

Hi guys and thank You for Your kind welcome.
Reading better some passage of the history I noticed that Little Doctor often talks about galleries or tunnels that are
inside and under that Hills near Livorno at Valle Benedetta. About the presence of this kind of morphology we know
that most of tunnels inside the ground had been generated by volcanism and in this case I can say that in the area
of those Hills the magma surely came out of the ground millions years ago. The proof is given by the presence of a
very particular and extremely uncommon mineral that has been noticed along a little river flowing there. Some years
ago a Tuscan geologists team from Cecina - near Livorno - found out the presence of this Crystal.
His name is Blue Titanite (Titanite Azzurra) ; it is considered really a rarity and without doubt is the product of
magmatic activity. So Little Doctor also in this case is right.
Below You can see the beauty immage of that Crystal.
Well, I have to stop now. See You soon.
thanks
Tourist

 

[vario]

Hi guys and thank You for Your kind welcome.
Reading better some passage of the history I noticed that Little Doctor often talks about galleries or tunnels that are
inside and under that Hills near Livorno at Valle Benedetta. About the presence of this kind of morphology we know
that most of tunnels inside the ground had been generated by volcanism and in this case I can say that in the area
of those Hills the magma surely came out of the ground millions years ago. The proof is given by the presence of a
very particular and extremely uncommon mineral that has been noticed along a little river flowing there. Some years
ago a Tuscan geologists team from Cecina - near Livorno - found out the presence of this Crystal.
His name is Blue Titanite (Titanite Azzurra) ; it is considered really a rarity and without doubt is the product of
magmatic activity. So Little Doctor also in this case is right.
Below You can see the beauty immage of that Crystal.
Well, I have to stop now. See You soon.
thanks
Tourist

TOURIST thanks to this new information , any comments most welcome.