The Ancient Magic Square.
The Church of San Pietro ad Oratorium is located in the municipality of Capestrano, approximately 40 km from L’Aquila. To the left of the main entrance, there is a stone relic from its original 9th-century construction, embedded in the wall upside down. This stone features the ancient magic square, which consists of five words, each containing five letters. These words can be read in multiple directions: left to right, right to left, top to bottom, and bottom to top.
The five words—“rotas,” “opera,” “tenet,” “arepo,” and “sator”—translate to “sower,” “works,” “holds,” “plow,” and “everywhere.” These terms have been interpreted in various ways, with some scholars suggesting that they form an anagram for “Pater Noster.”
One plausible interpretation is: The farmer Arepo has wheels [as] his tools [a plow]; that is, the farmer utilizes his plow as his instrument of labor.
It is believed that the church was founded in 752 by Desiderius, the last king of the Lombards. Additionally, the existence of a previous pagan altar, currently serving as the base for the presbyterial ciborium, implies that a temple may have stood at this site before the 8th century A.D.
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