Giovanni Maria de Agostini, Wonder of the Century: The

Giovanni Maria de Agostini, Wonder of the Century: The Astonishing World Traveler Who Was A Hermit (Mesilla Valley History Series)

This book is about a remarkable man, Giovanni Maria de Agostini, born in Italy in 1801, who combined two seemingly contradictory aspirations: a fervent desire to devote his whole life to â€œperfect solitudeâ€ and an astonishing urge to travel incessantly.

As his decisions and actions emerge from the lightless silence â€“ the time-covered past â€“ a unifying purpose becomes evident.

Following extensive travel in Europe, Agostini takes vows revocable only by formal dispensation from the Pope. He immediately leaves forever his â€œbeloved Italyâ€ for South America. Twenty-one years he spends traversing that, at the time, greatly unexplored continent, visiting Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile â€“ and so doing multiple times. During this spectacular solo Odyssey, he survives a trip down the Amazon River by canoe, crosses the Alps by foot several times, walks vast distances, and endures living alone in scalding deserts and subzero mountains. In spite of oppressive and infuriating obstacles, including death threats, unjust arrest, deportation, jail, and forced confinement in a mental asylum, Agostini persists undeterred in the solemn goal he set for himself when he left Europe.

Seeking change and another continent, Agostini leaves South America for Mexico, passing through Panama and Guatemala, and then Mexico for North America, passing through Cuba. In Cuba, he is hailed as an extraordinary adventurer, his photograph is taken, and he is proclaimed â€œThe Wonder of Our Century.â€ After arrival in New York, he walks to Canada, where he spends almost a year, then â€œgoes west,â€ eventually reaching, in the midst of the American Civil War, the Territory of New Mexico, where he meets his merciless fate.

Agostini is remembered in many places -- in South America as Monge JoÃ£o Maria, in North America as ErmitaÃ±o Don Juan Agostini; however his life story is encrusted with myth and false fact. As the veritable events of his life are unveiled, a man of fascinating originality, prodigious endurance, intelligence, self-discipline, and self-sufficiency, infused with an indomitable spirit of adventure, emerges.

Today in Argentina, as many as 15,000 people participate in a yearly festival initiated by Agostini at Cerro Monje, â€œMonkâ€™s Hill.â€ In Brazil, at Cerro Campestre, â€œCampestre Hill,â€ and Santo Cerro do BotucaraÃ, â€œHoly Hill of BotucaraÃ,â€ over 10,000 people celebrate annual events founded by Agostini. In Lapa, Brazil, a national park protects the pilgrimage route to Gruta do Monge, â€œMonkâ€™s Grotto.â€ At AraÃ§oiaba Hill, near Sorocaba, Brazil, the Trilha da Pedra Santa, â€œTrail of the Holy Rock,â€ is climbed annually by thousands of people desiring to pay respect to the memory of the Monge do Ipanema, the â€œMonk of Ipanema.â€

These are just a few examples of Agostiniâ€™s cultural legacy, 145 years after his death.

20 maps and 65 photos, including 2 rare photos of Agostini, one taken in 1857 and one taken in 1861.
Country USA
Brand Doc 45 Publishing
Manufacturer Doc 45 Publishing
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber black & white illustrations
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780692247402
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
Brand	Doc 45 Publishing
Manufacturer	Doc 45 Publishing
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	black & white illustrations
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780692247402
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

Giovanni Maria de Agostini, Wonder of the Century: The Astonishing World Traveler Who Was A Hermit (Mesilla Valley History Series)

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