Panoramic Map of Palestine by Giovanni Jacono
Panoramic Map of Palestine for the work The Gospel as Revealed to Me by Giovanni Jacono
This map was published in Volume 2 of Documents and Studies on Maria Valtorta and Her Writings,
under its original title: Map of Palestine for the work “The Poem of the God-Man”[2].
1970 – Edizioni Pisani
Notes:
- a. The map shows only the places mentioned in the work. The main routes followed by Jesus are shown in red.
- b. The profiles of Golgotha, Mount Tabor, and the Mount of Beatitudes faithfully reproduce the descriptions provided by Maria Valtorta.
- c. Territorial division of Palestine: Judea (from the western edge of the Joppa–Ephraim alignment); Samaria (from the Joppa–Ephraim alignment to the Caesarea Maritima–Engannim alignment); Galilee (from this alignment to the Alexandroscene–Caesarea Philippi alignment).
- d. Modern names of some places: Joppa = Tel Aviv; Sicaminion = Haifa; Ptolemais = St. John of Acre (Acre); Shechem = Nablus; Samaria = Sebastia.
Rome, September 30, 1970When I had the privilege of becoming acquainted with The Poem of the God-Man, written by Maria Valtorta, I had returned from Palestine only a few weeks earlier.
It was a magnificent coincidence.
I still had before my eyes a thousand visions of that luminous land, of that deep blue sky, as blue as Jesus’ eyes, when a dear friend, a true apostle of the Work, pointed out to me how useful a map showing all the numerous places mentioned in the ten wonderful volumes would be to the reader.
I liked the idea.
I began patiently recording the various place names I encountered while reading, and the result was a surprising list. At this point, I faced the difficulty of determining the exact geographical location of places that currently have a different name from the one given in the Work. But I overcame the obstacle thanks to a page—kindly provided to me—from a small geographical atlas, on which Maria Valtorta had personally indicated the location of some of these places. It was deeply moving to see and touch that document, and I remember the religious reverence with which I handled it.
Once the preparatory work had been completed, all that remained was to proceed with the actual graphic realization.
It then seemed appropriate to me to use a perspective and panoramic sketch that would allow me to depict the entire Palestinian region clearly and convey to the viewer the feeling of being “immersed” in the broad landscape represented.
Thus was born the Map that is now being published. Perhaps a better work could have resulted, but the important thing was to make a beginning. In subsequent editions, it will be easy to make improvements by following the valuable suggestions that readers of the Work will undoubtedly provide.
What will always remain with me is the moving memory of the silence of those nighttime hours during which I devoted myself to this little work. In that silence, more than once, I seemed to hear, on the deserted pavement of the street, the footsteps of Jesus.
Giovanni Iacono
Giovanni Jacono, born in La Spezia in June 1932, spent his adolescence in Chiavari, where he obtained his scientific high-school diploma at the “Cassini” Lyceum. He entered the Military Academy of Modena in 1952 and currently holds the rank of Major in the Italian Army. Since 1967, he has been serving in Rome at the Defence Staff. He has been married for eleven years and has two children.