Among the hills, near Saluzzo, in the shadows of Monviso there is the castle of Manta, built in the twelfth century, initially as a military fortress. In the fifteenth century Valerano, the cultured and enlightened lord and regent of the Marchesato (Marquisate) of Saluzzo, enriched the Sala Baronale (Baronial Hall) with beautiful frescoes, a unique heritage of culture through time. And on the south wall, the myth of eternal youth is depicted, with the fountain surmounted by the god of Love.
Perhaps few know that the Salone delle Grottesche also holds a secret. In the hall there is a tapestry that no scholar has been able to decipher. On the ceiling of the hall, commissioned in 1560 by Michele Antonio Della Manta, one finds the burning Chariot of the Prophet Elias depicted. Next to it, in an oval, there are three cherubs; on the opposite side, always in an oval, portrayed is a globe with the inscription "SPIRITUS INTUS ALIT" (the spirit breathed in). And here is the unsolved enigma: on it represented are the lands, Europe, America and Antarctica. So far so good, but Antarctica was discovered about two hundred years later.
