Obelisco di Monte Citorio

Description:

• Augustus positioned this obelisk in 10 BC in Campo Marzio, and it was used as the pointer for a sundial that unfortunately became inaccurate after just 50 years. For centuries it remained unused in the square, and then disappeared: it was rediscovered five centuries later, covered by other ancient structures. Another 300 years passed before the obelisk was at last re-erected in its present position in front of Palazzo di Montecitorio. It came from Heliopolis in Egypt, and it is covered with hieroglyphs that were thought, during the 16th century, to be the key revealing the mystery of the wisdom of Adam before he was driven out of the Garden of Eden.
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