Il Labirinto "invisibile": Basilica di San Savino a Piacenza

From classical antiquity through the Middle Ages, in a christian context, the labyrinth is perceived as a representation of the world, hell and redemption. Between the 5th and the 9th centuries the labyrinth image disappears and then it reappears in the 12th century inside italian churches, especially along the Via Francigena. In the church of San Savino at Piacenza, a floor mosaic of a labyrinth, dating from approx the beginning of the 12th century, is testified by documentary sources. The epigraph of the labyrinth proposes a Christian reinterpretation of the pavement path as a “pilgrimage” in the sinful earthly dimension to ascend toward salvation.