Earthquakes in Rome, 2000 years of stories and legends reconstructed

From the prophecy of the Venerable Bede of the 8th century AD to the one attributed to Raffaele Bendandi about a devastating earthquake on 11 May 2011, from the visible lesions on the Colosseum to popular beliefs about the protection due to the presence of the Pope : the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology reconstructs 2 thousand years of stories and legends about earthquakes in Rome , publishing on its website a story map in 7 chapters and 37 information sheets that offer historical documents , seismological data , period photos , testimonies of famous people. You can appreciate in audio format the sonnets of the 19th century poet Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli , who witnessed several earthquakes during his life. The second podcast in the series 'Terra instabile', born from the collaboration between the ANSA agency and the INGV, is also dedicated to false myths and real data on earthquakes in Rome. Returning to the INGV story map, the first chapter delves into the popular belief that the presence of the Pope was sufficient to protect Rome from earthquakes, a belief that is deeply rooted despite the fact that more than one Pope has been involved in some strong earthquakes in the central Apennines, such as Pope Clement XI, who was an eyewitness to the two strong tremors that occurred in 1703, just 19 days apart. Another myth about earthquakes in Rome, addressed in the fourth chapter of the story map, was based on the belief that Rome, being 'empty underneath' , was immune to earthquakes, a belief that has held for centuries and which probably derives from Aristotle's pneumatic theory , with which the philosopher also explained seismic phenomena. In the story map it is also possible to explore the places and main monuments of Rome that preserve traces and evidence of the effects of earthquakes , including the Colosseum, and an in-depth analysis of the most recent seismicity is also available.