Sacile
Water, palaces and Venetian memory. The territory that gives identity to the novel and its border alchemy.
Historical novel · Sacile · Venice · Serenissima
The Alchemist
of Sacile
Sacile, a land of water on the border between Venice and Friuli. Here a story takes shape in which alchemy, power and memory intertwine with the real places of the Serenissima.
SacileVeniceAlchemySerenissimaIsabella Cortese
The novel
When knowledge becomes power.
The Alchemist of Sacile opens a historical saga that crosses Venice, Sacile and other territories linked to the Serenissima. Alchemical research does not stay in the background: it becomes the engine of a story in which knowledge, ambition and transformation constantly collide.
At the centre of the story is Isabella Cortese, a figure out of her own time, surrounded by historical and fictional characters. The novel uses documentation as its structure, then leaves narrative with the harder task: making that world breathe.
"Real places are not mere settings: they become a living part of the story."
The result is not a postcard Venice. It is a political, restless city, crossed by science, religion, interests and secrets. Sacile, on the other hand, is no periphery of history: it is the place where this story changes direction.
The places
A story you can walk through.
One of the keys to the novel is its narrative geography: the reader encounters real places that still exist and let the page continue beyond the book.
Venice
The political and cultural heart of the Serenissima: power, knowledge, religion and intrigue meet in its calli.
Tambre · Alpago
The Casa Museo dell'Alchimista extends the saga's universe into the real territory and the author's cultural itinerary.
Visit the Tambre pageCharacters
Between history and invention.
Isabella CorteseAlchemist and central figure of the saga, called to measure herself against the boundary between knowledge and dominion.
Paolo SarpiA historical presence who brings into the narrative the conflict between knowledge, politics and religion.
Giacomo RagazzoniThe link to Sacile and to the concrete dimension of the Serenissima's economic and territorial power.
Veronica FrancoA voice of Renaissance Venice, capable of crossing the boundaries imposed by her own time.
Why read it
Not a history lesson. A door into history.
The novel is written for readers seeking an adventure and mystery story rooted in recognisable places, but also for those who want to discover Sacile and the Serenissima from a less predictable angle.
Behind the alchemy lies a very contemporary question: what happens when human beings gain a power they are not yet ready to govern?
The Storyteller's Roads
From the book to the territory.
The page is the first node of a network that will connect novels, places, itineraries and cultural projects. The next step will be Sacile: from the territory to the book, and from the book back to the territory.
Explore the narrated places