La Sicilia it is a land founded on myths and legends, but these, as always, hide some truth. Traces of these myths are often found under meters of earth, waiting to be found by archaeologists. Other times these are in the light of the sun but, despite their grandeur and magnificence, they are often forgotten for centuries and underestimated for decades. One of the most important examples is that of Caves of the Gurfa, located in the Sicilian hinterland, a few kilometers from the town of Alia (Palermo). It is a rock construction, used for centuries by local farmers as a granary. In reality these "caves" are related to myth of Minos, king of Crete and father of the Minotaur.
In fact, since January 2010, the site has been officially registered as "Place of heroes for the myth of Daedalus and Minos”With the decree of the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Sicilian Region. La Gurfa is a “hidden” jewel of Sicily, probably one of the most important archaeological sites in Mediterranean. It is such a fascinating place that it was one of the locations of the film The man of the stars di Giuseppe Tornatore and the video clip of the song "I will never leave you"of Amedeo Minghi. It is in fact one tomb à thòlos (bell-shaped) more than 16 meters, perforated at the top, just like the Pantheon di Rome. This is confirmed by the art historian and architect Carmel Mountain, the main scholar of the underground complex of the Gurfa.
As Montagna points out: "despite the centuries-old improper use of stable-warehouse and agricultural-housing, of which traces remain in the Arabic diction “Gurfa”, it reveals itself in its monumental dimensions as a great architecture of sophisticated design and construction. In particular, the bell-shaped environment, a thòlos, drilled at the top, the largest in the Mediterranean, can be directly compared and associated with tholoid typologies of Minoan-Mycenaean culture ».
Tomb of Minos and Pantheon of the Sikani
According to the myth of Minos, after the escape of Daedalus, the king of Crete decided to follow him to Sicily, to capture the fugitive. Welcomed to the palace of the Sican king Cocalo (where Daedalus took refuge), Minos was killed by the monarch's daughters during a bath. The grandeur of the Gurfa Caves is a sign of how this hypogeum was reserved for an important personality of the ancient world, precisely a "Minos"(Re). As the historian Montagna still remembers «“ Tombs of Minos ”in Sicily more than one have been identified… all concrete and possible. That of the Gurfa di Alia (PA), however, has the monumental characteristics of architectural exception, unique and original even with respect to the celebrated thòlos of Atreus in Mycenae, where there is a trace of the architectural wisdom of a "labyrinth builder". The Gurfa therefore had to be a sort of "Pantheon of the Sikani"".
Grotte della Gurfa: the astronomical event during the Spring Equinox
The proof that the Gurfa Caves are a temple-sanctuary is given from forum which is located in the upper part. This represents it Zenith (i.e. the point on the celestial sphere perpendicular to that of the observer of the planet earth, as opposed to the Nadir). During the'Spring equinox a particular astronomical event occurs, in which a ray of light hits the floor, at the exact point of the Nadir.
As explained by the architect Montagna "This is the "functioning" as a calendar structure of the monumental thòlos environment for the measurement / control of Equinoxes / Solstices. At 12 noon solar of the days at the turn of the Spring Equinox, the sun's rays filter through an artificial hole in the rock and hit the pavement of the Nadir pit. This ideally connects to theOculus of the Zenit 16 meters above, to define the symbolic structure that Mircea Eliade calls Axis of the world. Clear ritual that is repeated exactly in the days ofAutumn Equinox. The powerful blade of Light that penetrates from the Oculus of the thòlos, in its downward movement to the point where it meets the horizontal floor, creates effects of authentic Hierophany (revelation of a divine element). It is angled exactly 72 ° at the base and 36 ° at the top. It corresponds to the geometric construction of the Golden Triangle. Together with other "signs" it is the signature of the designer of "Tradizione Dedalica" ".
The studies carried out by the art historian Carmelo Montagna have therefore highlighted how that "granary" in the center of the Sicilia is actually a hypogeum of priceless value historical, mythological and architectural, or rather the tomb of the legendary king of Crete Minos who, in search of Daedalus, found his death right on the island in the center of the Mediterranean.
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