VALLEY OF GENIUS
- VALLINGEGNO, UMBRIA, ITALY -
WHAT'S WITH THE GENIUS THING?
Well, if you allow, let's go back in history.
Around 2200 years back, give or take a couple of decades.
SELVANS - PART-TIME FOREST RANGER, FULL-TIME GENIUS
Back then, when the Romans were busy conquering everything in sight, they also swallowed up a city called Iguvium (today called Gubbio). And while they were trying to sort out the mess that any invasion brings, they got word of locals making pilgrimages to a particular valley.
Naturally, they couldn't resist poking their noses in; and so they sent some priests to investigate what all the hype was about.
What they found was... curious. A shrine to Selvans, the Etruscan God of woodlands and boundaries. Apparently, these peasants (those filthy infidels!) still refused to change their beliefs and start praying to the proper, state-approved gods.
See, if you asked the Romans, the Etruscan were a bunch of uncivilized people that just had it coming. And their Gods, obviously, were just a bunch of BS that the Romans needed to get rid of asap.
Now the concept of Selvans was clear to the Romans. They even had their own God, called Silvanus, which basically had the same job: protecting forests and boundaries. (After all, the Romans were experts in pushing those borders as far as humanly possible.)
But when they, equipped with popcorn and wine (because, obviously, Coke didn't exist yet), listened in more closely on the conversations the locals were having with Selvans, they noticed something strange:
THE WTF?! MOMENT
The locals weren't praying for their physical property lines to be guarded. Instead, they were honoring the invisible, sacred boundaries that define who you are - the very essence of individuality.
That left the priests in somewhat of a pickle. Initially, they had thought, no problem - we just take this shrine over and dedicate it to Silvanus, OUR God of boundaries, and be done with it. But if this place wasn't about physical boundaries, then the energy of Silvanus wouldn't match the energy of this place at all. And that would be a waste of energy (in more than one sense). So what on earth were they supposed to do?
Now while they were watching, debating, and fighting over how to handle this whole debacle, they couldn't help but notice something else:
When these pilgrims left the shrine, they left with that certain look. That look. The look you get when you just had a mind-blowing, life-changing, utterly explosive realization.
Romans being Romans, they did what they did best: claimed the place. for themselves. They went all out and built a "proper" temple - you know, civilized, clean, with walls, a roof, pillars, and a floor drain for all those animal sacrifices - and of course dedicated it to the right God for the energy here: Genius. The God of creativity, inspiration, and all the things that make you, well, you.
"If this place can't broaden your horizon, nothing will."
Robert Trotzmüller, Life Coach
"A space that opens your mind."
Nadine Steiner, Director of Operations
"A truly magical place."
Susanne Trotzmüller, HR Director
THE VALLEY OF GENIUS IS BORN
The Romans forced their religious views on the locals through endless sermons about the right Gods and their respective jobs, until they finally broke their resistance. Locals stopped calling on Selvans and instead starting to pray to Genius, and the valley became known as Valle Ingenio—the Valley of Genius. Today, it’s shortened to Vallingegno.
And the rest is history, as they say.
WHAT'S THAT GOT TO DO WITH YOU?
Because even if you are a die-hard rational “I-don’t-believe-in-anything-I-can’t-see-or-prove” kind of person, you DO have to acknowledge that certain places carry a certain energy.
You know, the whole “metaphysics is just physics we aren’t able to measure, YET”? After all, even scientists acknowledge the psychological concept of “sense of place”: environments rich in history create emotional connections that spark creative thinking.
2000 YEARS OF INSPIRATION - AND COUNTING.
Thousands of pilgrims over thousands of years can't be wrong.
It’s a place of power, a place that carries an energy of inspiration, creativity, and big ideas.
It’s a place that fills you with the NEED to create something spectacular. Something that makes you, you.
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FANCY SOME QUALITY TIME WITH A ROMAN GOD?
Whether you need headspace, fresh ideas, or just some uninterrupted time for that big project of yours:
For 2000 years, this valley's been inspiring people to do their thing. The thing that could only come from them. The thing that makes life unmistakably their own. Ready to join them?
THE TAKEOVER. HOSTILE, OF COURSE.
THE REBRAND
Seeing that, the whole issue suddenly made sense. This place clearly had the energy of the God Genius. The god of uniqueness, the individual part of a general divine nature that is present in every individual person. NOW the whole thing made sense.