316
nemi’s·ships
giuliano·di·benedetti
Home to the world’s first superyachts Professor Giuliano Di Benedetti, architect, historian, essayist and author, has spent a lifetime studying Nemi and its mysteries. Estela Yachting’s Francesco Gennai travelled to Nemi to meet him. Born in the Castelli Romani in 1943, Giuliano Di Benedetti has authored numerous history books, but he has made studying Lake Nemi and its ships his life’s work. The preeminent expert on the topic, his research and resulting theories may border on science fiction, but de Benedetti’s only mission for decades has been to uncover the truth. It is a cold morning at the end of January and from Genzano, Professor Di Benedetti and I walk along the road that runs along the lake of Nemi until we arrive at the ‘Museo delle Navi’. At the entrance, we find a majestic Roman cornice, evidence that this lush, green place once had a glorious past. “In these places, the story took place for real”, the Professor says. “Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Caligula, Dante, Leonardo da Vinci, Mussolini. All passed through here and history will unite them forever in these places.” We enter the museum, but there are no ships. “Where are they?” I enquire. Di Benedetti starts from the beginning. Nemi ships Part of Caligula’s project was to make Nemi the religious centre of the Roman Empire. Romans worshipped
the gods and the greatest goddess of all was Diana, the huntress, twin sister of Apollo, also known as Queen Isis, protector of sailors and twin sister of Horus. Other aliases include Latonia, Lucina, Luna, Juno, Trivia and, in hell, Proserpina. The greatest temple in the Roman empire was located in Nemi, devoted to worshipping Diana, whose legend and powers became conflated with other deities. She was also seen as goddess of the moon, of woodland, fertility and childbirth. From the temple in the volcanic hills of Nemi, Romans saw Diana’s image in the moon’s reflection on the lake below. Caligula wanted to take his worship one step further; he wanted to worship on the lake itself as the Egyptian Pharaos had. The Nemi ships were born Caligula discovered the cult of Isis during his travels to Egypt with his father Germanicus, where he heard the legend of the sacred temple dedicated to Queen Isis. The mythical goddess of fertility and motherhood and was considered an ‘alter ego’ of the roman goddess Diana.
