The sword of King Arthur is the one that had to be pulled out of the stone - films and books were made about it. These stories were considered fabulous from start to finish. As it turned out, in vain. There are both sword and stone. True, not in England, in Italy. And the servants of the church take care of them.
On the floor of the old church is an even older exhibit. Under a plastic cap you cannot immediately see it, but tourists, if they appear here, come to look only at it. This is a real sword in stone. The overseer of the church is already tired of explaining that he has nothing to do with the legends of King Arthur.
Don Vitto, caretaker of the Church of St. Galgano: “Everyone remembers this English legend. It is about the fact that near some church a sword appeared in a stone, and a voice from above said: “Whoever can pull it out will become a king.” The only one who succeeded was Arthur. And he became the sovereign of England."
Donna Vitto is already sick of this story. Because many people know the legend of Arthur, but almost no one knows the history of this sword.
Don Vitto, caretaker of the Church of St. Galgano: “We even have frescoes in our church. And everything is clearly shown. Knight Galgano lived in these places. He had a vision of the Archangel Gabriel, after which the knight became a hermit and, as a sign of this, stuck his sword into a stone."
The paradox is that in Great Britain a sword in stone, or at least just a stone where the sword was, was never found. The entertainment industry did its best to advertise Arthur's story though. And this place is in Italy. In the very center. And few people know about him.
The opinion of Italian scholars and personally of Don Vitto is a typical example of the rewriting of history. The sword in the stone is a memorable image. And in the Middle Ages, English writers took it as a basis. And the rest of the characters just made up.
Italian historians have found another parallel of this place with the legends of King Arthur. The image of a round table at which he gathered his council of knights. The round roof of the church was built around the site in the 12th century.
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I always want to compare them - legend and reality. For example, the English Arthur allegedly drew his sword to become king. But in fact, the knight Galgano stuck his sword into the stone to stop being a warrior. Then - the British claim that there was only one sword in the stone - somewhere in Scotland. But in fact, there were many swords in the stone, all over medieval Italy. Because the other knights imitated Galgano's deed.
And finally, according to the English version, only one person could pull the sword out of the stone - Arthur. But in fact, an Italian sword is pulled out of a stone very easily.
Don Vitto, caretaker of the Church of St. Galgano: “Indeed, until the thirties of the last century, he was regularly pulled out by priests. And they used it like a cross. Because there is no miracle here. The sword sits loosely in the stone. It is, as it were, in a crevice of a rock.
Don Vitto gives permission to open the protective cap. The very fact of its appearance is also due to English legends. After all, many tried to steal the blade, thinking that they were stealing Arthur's sword. And the last kidnapper simply broke it at the base. Now the place of the break is fixed by a steel bracket. So, it may be right that this church stands aside from the main tourist routes. So there is more chance that in some 150 years the Italian sword in stone will safely celebrate its 1000th anniversary.
Report by Anton Voitsekhovsky