SHROUD THE DISCOVERY OF THE HOLY SHROUD

The Shroud is a linen cloth that, according to the Catholic tradition, wrapped the body of Jesus in the tomb.
Until May 23 it will be exhibited at the Cathedral of Turin, next to the main altar.
2 million visitors about are expected.
The emotion that the visit gives is something indescribable for both believers and non-believers.
The Shroud appears historically and documented around 1350, in the hands of Geoffroy of Charny: the man was one of the most respected soldiers in France, and was twice made prisoner by the British during the battles.
To fulfill a vow made in captivity, Geoffroy founded a church in 1353 in Lirey, and gave the shroud to the priests.

After it was moved to Lirey in 1353, the Shroud was left in custody of the canons, but in 1415 Marguerite de Charny, a descendant of Geoffroy, took back the shroud, creating a bitter dispute with the priests of the local church.

The woman gave the Shroud in 1453, upon payment of a large sum, to the Savoy, which moved it to Chambery.

On the night of December 4, 1532 a fire broke out in the chapel where it was kept the Holy Shroud, that escaped the destruction by a miracle, the silver reliquary containing the sheet saved the Shroud, even if a few drops of silver, melted by the violent heat, managed to pierce the sheet.

It was patched two years later by the Poor Clares, the patches applied by the sisters are visible, as you can see the implementation of the Shroud on a canvas of Holland, applied by the religious.

In 1578 the Shroud was moved to Turin and the last king of Italy, Umberto II, gave the Shroud in 1983 to the Catholic Church, who left the case to the diocese of Turin.

The Shroud is in hand-woven linen, working with a herringbone pattern, the warp is a weft 3:1, formerly used by the peoples of the Middle East but in Europe too in 1400 it was used the same warp.
The man of the Shroud is very high, with a height between 175 and 183 cm. a height compatible with the characteristics of the Semitic peoples.

There is no doubt that the man of the Shroud was already lying dead on the sheet, just as there is no doubt that there has been in contact for up to 40 hours, there being no trace on the sheet, signs of putrefaction.

There are traces of blood group AB, coagulated.
Some scholars dispute the antiquity of the blood itself, supporting the view that it has been applied in later periods.

The body shows signs of crucifixion, with two wounds to the poles, left and right, two on the feet and one on the cost.

This corresponds to what is narrated in the Gospels, especially concerning the injured wrists, signs of the nailing of the body according to the Roman use, almost unknown in the Middle Ages, a time where it was thought that the Romans crucified the convicted in the palm of their hand.
Then there are fixed points, a human body crucified, lying already dead on the cloth, an old linen, worked in an ancient way, a phenomenon of transposition of the image on the shroud that could not be replicated in any way.

The Shroud is also subject to violent confrontation between supporters of its authenticity and supporters of its artificiality.