Count Alessandro Cagliostro - life story: The Great Schemer. Joseph Balsamo, aka Count Cagliostro Giuseppe Count Cagliostro advised his portrait of a woman

Count Alessandro Cagliostro, also known as Phoenix, Tiscio, Belmonte and Marquis de Anna, became famous throughout the world thanks to his own ingenuity. A man who began his career by selling fake treasure maps, years later became a member of the royal houses of Europe and Russia. It is not surprising that such a mysterious character eventually moved to the pages of works written by world classics.

Origin story

The biography of the famous alchemist and hypnotist is full of unreliable facts and contradictions. Moreover, most of the information was obtained from one source - from Count Alessandro Cagliostro himself. The man happily shared details of his own childhood and adolescence with his friends.

Contemporaries were amazed at the count’s ability to present himself in society and noted the inexplicable interest of women in the alchemist, given the latter’s ordinary appearance:

“A dark-skinned, broad-shouldered man of middle age and short stature. He spoke three or four languages, all without exception, with a foreign accent. He behaved mysteriously and pompously. He sported rings decorated with rare precious stones.”

The stories associated with the name of the count became most famous after the release of the novel “Joseph Balsamo.” The book created an unprecedented stir and even sparked speculation that the great hoaxer was still alive. Interest was reinforced by the writer’s next work, “The Queen’s Necklace,” which touches on Madame de Lamotte de Valois’s jewelery scam.

The forgotten image of the great deceiver has once again captured the minds of writers and historians. Now scientific treatises began to be dedicated to the former predictor and immortal magician and the schemes of the magician’s influence on people were explored. The count, who died in prison long ago, gained immortality thanks to his own tricks.

Biography and prototype

According to Cagliostro, the Count was born from the love union of a princess who must not be named and an angel. The boy was born in an eastern country, not far from the place where the ark was built. By the way, the count was personally acquainted with the great righteous man and even took an honorable place on the ship during the flood.

Later, having moved to Medina, Alessandro spent his youth in luxury. He reached adulthood and, with the blessing of his uncle, set off on a trip around the world with his respected mentor Altotas. The man visited Africa and spent a lot of time in Egypt, where he studied the secrets of the pyramids and communicated with the pharaohs. Later, the enlightened husband moved to Europe to learn more about the secrets of the universe, which he now tells to a select few.

Historical sources claim that Giuseppe Balsamo - this is Cagliostro's real name - was born in Sicily into a family of cloth merchants. Pietro and Felicia could not cope with their son, who had a difficult character since childhood.

At the family council, it was decided to send Giuseppe to a monastery located near the city of Caltagirona. However, even there they could not cope with the young prankster. A short stay in the monastery opened up the world of medicine and chemistry for the future Cagliostro. But, having caught the young man cheating, the monks kicked Balsamo out of the monastery.

Thus began the independent life of the great hoaxer. The young man traded in thefts and deception until Giuseppe’s aunt died in Messina. The guy went to his native land, hoping for part of the inheritance. But as a result, he simply appropriated the name of a relative and added an undeserved title to the sonorous surname of Cagliostro.

Getting used to his new image, the young man went on a trip to the East, where he met his own mentor, the swindler Altotas. Now small frauds have grown into large-scale operations.

In Rome, a man meets the beautiful Lorenzia Feliciati, who happily marries a charming deceiver. It is unknown whether the girl knew about her lover’s true occupation, but soon the wife becomes an equal partner of Cagliostro in the machinations.

The first years of the count's scam did not bring in enough income, so the man often paid for his own mistakes and debts with the help of Laurence. The girl sold herself to free her husband from debt prison or to get money for food.

Several years passed in wanderings between Italy, France and England. Everything changed in 1777. For unknown reasons, the return to England was successful for the Cagliostro couple.

Having spent a lot of money on creating a new mystical image, the count acquired a clientele who happily brought their own savings to the scammer. The elixir of youth and mysterious fortune telling on water, telling about the future, were in particular demand among the aristocrats of England.

Adventure-seeking Cagliostro and faithful Lorencia left a profitable business in Europe, deciding to move to Russia. For the first six months, the famous couple aroused unprecedented interest among their subjects. But Cagliostro's success faded after the news of Laurentia's affair with and the Count's unsuccessful resurrection of Prince Gagarin's little son.

After unpleasant incidents, the scammers were urgently expelled from the country, so the alchemist and his companion had to return to France. Already known in wide circles, Cagliostro again suffers defeat. An attempt to deceive the jeweler of the royal court ended in the persecution of the count, who helps the scammers he knows to develop a funny adventure.

The man returns to his homeland. Only the order in Rome changed during the count's absence. Alessandro is arrested and accused of Freemasonry. During the trial, the swindler's machinations came to light. And the testimony of his beloved wife, in which Laurentia spoke about the count’s deceptions, only cemented the result.

The immortal Count Cagliostro met his own death in the Castle of San Leo, imprisoned in a solitary cell with a single hole located under the ceiling. According to contemporaries, the great swindler died from an attack of epilepsy. But they say that the alchemist and friend of the pharaohs died from poison added to the food by the jailers on the orders of the deceived aristocrats.

Film adaptations

In 1943, Hungarian director Josef von Baki, commissioned by the Third Reich, shot the full-length film “Munchausen”, in which the main character goes to Russia for adventure. Count Cagliostro appears in the film as a minor character. The role of the Count was played by actor Ferdinand Marian.

Cagliostro's next screen appearance took place in 1973. The mini-series “Joseph Balsamo” was an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas the Father. The film tells the story of Count Cagliostro's attempts to overthrow the monarchy in France and touches on the man's difficult relationship with his young wife Laurence. He played the role of a conspirator and intriguer.

In 1984, a comedy filmed by a Soviet director was released. The film “Formula of Love” is a free interpretation of the story “Count Cagliostro”. The role of the swindler and hypnotist went to Nodar Mgaloblishvili, and the voice of the character was given by.

In 2001, a film adaptation of Dumas the Father's work was filmed by the American film company Warner Brothers. The film “The Story of the Necklace” was nominated for an Oscar, but did not receive a statuette. He played the role of a powerful hypnotist.

• The Dead Dolphins group dedicated a song to the sly man called “Count Cagliostro.”
• According to Cagliostro, the count conducted a fasting session every 50 years, after which he looked 25 years younger.
• Angry because of Potemkin's amorous adventures with Laurence, Catherine II wrote the comedy "The Deceiver", in which she ridiculed Cagliostro's abilities.

Quotes

“Fire was also considered divine until Prometheus stole it. Now we boil water on it. I will do the same with love."

“The heart is an organ like any other. And subject to orders from above.”

“All people are divided into those who need something from me, and the rest, from whom I need something.”

“Time must be filled with events, then it flies unnoticed.”

Alessandro Cagliostro (Italian: Alessandro Cagliostro), real name: Giuseppe Balsamo (Italian: Giuseppe Balsamo). Born June 2, 1743 in Palermo - died August 26, 1795 in the Castle of San Leo. Famous mystic and adventurer. In France he was known as Joseph Balsamo.

Giuseppe Balsamo (Cagliostro) was born presumably on June 2, 1743 (according to other sources - June 8) in the family of a small cloth merchant Pietro Balsamo and Felicia Braconieri.

As a child, the future alchemist was restless and prone to adventure and was more interested in magic tricks and ventriloquism than in the sciences. He was expelled from the school at the Church of St. Rocca for blasphemy (according to other sources: for theft). For re-education, his mother sent him to a Benedictine monastery in the city of Caltagirone.

One of the monks, a pharmacist well-versed in chemistry and medicine, noticing young Giuseppe’s penchant for chemical research, took him on as his student. But the training did not last long - Giuseppe Balsamo was convicted of fraud and expelled from the monastery. However, he himself claimed that he spent a long time studying ancient books on chemistry, medicinal herbs and astronomy in the monastery library.

Returning to Palermo, Giuseppe began making “miraculous” potions, forging documents and selling supposedly ancient maps to simpletons with the places where treasures were hidden.

After several such stories, he had to leave his native land and go to Messina. According to one version, it was there that Giuseppe Balsamo became Count Cagliostro. After the death of his aunt from Messina - Vincenza Cagliostro - Giuseppe took her euphonious family name, and at the same time awarded himself the title of count.

In Messina, Cagliostro met an alchemist Altotas, with whom he then traveled to Egypt and Malta. After returning to Italy, he lived in Naples and Rome, where married the beautiful Lorenza Feliciati(according to other sources - Feliciana). According to a later investigation by the Inquisition, Lorenza had a slender figure, white skin, black hair, a round face, sparkling eyes and was very beautiful. Cagliostro was forced to flee with his wife from Rome after one of the tricks of his friend, who called himself the Marquis de Agliata and traded in forging documents.

After a short stop in Bergamo, they were caught by the police, but Agliata escaped with the money. The couple was expelled from Bergamo and went on foot to Barcelona. Things went badly, and Cagliostro corrupted his wife, essentially trafficking her. From Barcelona they moved to Madrid, and then to Lisbon, where they met a certain Englishwoman who gave Cagliostro the idea of ​​traveling to England.

In Paris, where Cagliostro moved from London, he encountered a competitor - the Count of Saint-Germain. Cagliostro borrowed several techniques from him, one of them was to force his servants to tell the curious that they had been serving their master for three hundred years, and during this time he had not changed at all. According to other sources, the butler replied that he entered the service of the count in the year of the assassination of Guy Julius Caesar.

A copy of Cagliostro's note, taken in the Vatican, has survived. It describes the process of “regeneration,” or the return of youth: “Having taken two grains of this drug, a person loses consciousness and speechlessness for three whole days, during which he often experiences cramps, convulsions and perspiration appears on his body. Awakening from this state, in which he does not, however, experience the slightest pain, on the thirty-sixth day he takes the third and last grain, after which he falls into a deep and restful sleep. His skin peels off when he sleeps.", “Teeth and hair fall out. They all grow back within a few hours. On the morning of the fortieth day, the patient leaves the room, becoming a new person.”.

Giuseppe went to study the secret sciences in the great temples of the East. He himself claimed that his thirst for knowledge was completely disinterested and had lofty goals. But, naturally, it would be stupid not to use knowledge for commercial interests, because Balsamo, among other things, “learned” the secret of the philosopher’s stone and the “recipe” for the elixir of immortality.

In England, Cagliostro's affairs were also mediocre. Having run up debts and unable to pay off his wife’s services, Cagliostro ended up in a debtor’s prison, from where Lorenza bought him out, touching the compassionate English Catholic. After this, the couple immediately left for France, from where they moved again to Italy, and then, having lured significant funds from a casual acquaintance, to Spain, where, having cheated again, they fled again to England.

And so in 1777, the great “magician”, astrologer and healer Count Alessandro Cagliostro arrived in London. It was on his second visit to this country that Cagliostro began to appear not just as an alchemist, but as a great man. Rumors about his miraculous abilities quickly spread throughout the city. They said that Cagliostro easily summons the souls of the dead, turns lead into gold, reads thoughts.

Until now, he was unknown to anyone in England. No one knew where he came from or what he had done before; no one remembered his first visit. Cagliostro began to spread amazing and incredible rumors about himself in society: he talked about how he had been inside the Egyptian pyramids and met with thousand-year-old immortal sages, keepers of the secrets of the god of alchemy himself and the secret knowledge of Hermes Trismegistus.

The English Freemasons even claimed that the “Great Copt,” an adept of the ancient Egyptian Rite, had arrived to them, initiated into the mystical secrets of the ancient Egyptians and Chaldeans. Starting from England, Cagliostro gained fame, in no small part due to substantial spending on self-promotion. According to the Inquisition, the money came from Masonic lodges, since Cagliostro in England became a Freemason and even organized the so-called Egyptian Freemasonry, or rather a new teaching in Freemasonry. The Masons willingly paid for the famous “magician” to spread their ideas.

Skillfully dispensing information, as if casually letting it slip, he told his captivated listeners incredible things: as if he born 2236 years ago, the year Vesuvius erupted, and the power of the volcano was partially transferred to him. That he learned the secret of creating the philosopher's stone and created the essence of eternal life. That he had been traveling around the world for many centuries and was familiar with the great rulers of ancient centuries.

During his stay in London, the mysterious foreigner was busy with two important activities: making precious stones and guessing winning lottery numbers. Both activities brought in a decent income. It soon became clear that most of the guessed numbers were dummies. The deceived Londoners began to persecute the magician and he even went to prison, but was released when the crimes were not proven.

Outwardly unprepossessing, the count had truly magnetic power and attraction for women. According to the descriptions of Londoners, Count Cagliostro was “a dark-skinned, broad-shouldered man of middle age and short stature. He spoke three or four languages, and all of them, without exception, with a foreign accent. He behaved mysteriously and pompously. He sported rings decorated with rare precious stones. He called them “trifles” and made it clear that they were of his own production.”

From London, Cagliostro went to The Hague and Vienna, and from there to Holstein, Courland and, finally, St. Petersburg.

Count Cagliostro. Adventurer King

In 1780, Cagliostro, under the name of Count Phoenix, arrived in St. Petersburg, but here he had to limit himself to the role of a gratuitous (for the most part) doctor and became close friends only with Elagin and Prince Potemkin.

This was largely due to a skeptical attitude towards mysticism among the nobles. Some sources speak of Cagliostro's mastery of the then gaining strength in the doctrine of animal magnetism, that is, the predecessor of hypnosis. This assumption is not without foundation, especially since Cagliostro conducted his “magic” sessions, as a rule, with children whom he selected himself, apparently based on their level of suggestibility.

The Empress treated Cagliostro and his charming wife very favorably. Without resorting to his services herself, she recommended that the courtiers communicate with the count for “benefit in every way.”

In St. Petersburg, Cagliostro “exorcised the devil” from the holy fool Vasily Zhelugin, brought back to life the newborn son of Count Stroganov, and offered Potemkin to triple his gold cash on the condition that he would take one third of the gold for himself. Grigory Alexandrovich, being the richest man in Europe, agreed to this solely for entertainment. Two weeks later the gold was weighed and analyzed. What Cagliostro did remains unknown, but the number of gold coins actually increased exactly three times.

Subsequently, the mother of the newborn suspected a substitution of the baby, and the empress did not like Potemkin’s close communication with Lorenza (to whom he gave a fairly significant amount of jewelry). Disgrace fell on the heads of the Cagliostro spouses - they were advised to leave the Russian Empire “as quickly as possible.” And on the stage of the theater in the Hermitage, the comedy “The Deceiver,” composed personally by the empress, was staged. Dozens of aristocrats, convinced of Cagliostro’s extraordinary abilities, were forced to accept the empress’s opinion as the ultimate truth.

He traveled through Warsaw and Strasbourg to Paris, where he enjoyed the fame of a great magician. He lived in France for many years.

Discredited by the well-known story with the queen’s necklace, he moved to London, where he published the famous “Letter to the French People,” which predicted an imminent revolution; however, exposed by the journalist Morand of deception, he soon fled from there to Holland, and then to Germany and Switzerland.

Cagliostro returned from his travels in Europe to Italy in 1789 and settled in Rome. But while he was not there, the situation changed radically. The Great French Revolution, which many associated with Masonic influence, greatly frightened the clergy. And the clergy began to hastily leave the Masonic lodges.

According to the edict of Pope Clement XII of January 14, 1739 and the edict of Pope Benedict XIV of May 18, 1751, involvement in Freemasonry was punishable by death.

Shortly after his arrival, in September 1789, Cagliostro was arrested on charges of Freemasonry, betrayed by one of only three new followers. A long trial began: based on the papers of the count himself and the data of the Inquisition, Cagliostro was accused of warlock and fraud.

Lorenza played a major role in the revelations of Cagliostro, who testified against her husband. But this did not help her - she was sentenced to life imprisonment in a monastery, where she soon died.

Count Cagliostro himself was sentenced to public burning, but the Pope soon replaced the death penalty with life imprisonment. On April 7, 1791, a solemn ritual of repentance took place in the Church of Santa Maria. Cagliostro, barefoot, in a simple shirt, knelt with a candle in his hands and prayed to God for forgiveness, while at that time in the square in front of the church the executioner burned all his magic books and magic equipment. The magician was then taken to the Castle of San Leo in the mountains of Emilia-Romagna.

In order to prevent a possible escape, Cagliostro was placed in a cell where a hole in the ceiling served as a door. He spent four years in these gloomy walls.

The great spirit charmer, adventurer and alchemist Giuseppe Balsamo, known as Alessandro Cagliostro, died on August 26, 1795: according to some, from epilepsy, others claim that from poison given to him by his jailers.

Bibliography of Count Cagliostro:

1780 - Maçonnerie Egyptienne
1786 - Mémoire pour le comte de Cagliostro accusé contre Mr. le Procureur-Général accusateur
1786 - Lettre du comte de Cagliostro au peuple anglais.

Count Cagliostro in art:

The historical and adventure cycle of Alexandre Dumas the Father of four novels under the general title “Notes of a Doctor,” which includes “Joseph Balsamo,” “The Queen’s Necklace,” “Ange Pitou,” “The Countess de Charny” and the adjacent novel “The Chevalier de Maison-Rouge”, dedicated to the tragic events in France in the last third of the 18th century and the events of the Great French Revolution. Alexandre Dumas the Father in his novel shows Cagliostro as a conspirator and pioneer of the revolution in France;

1919 - essay by Mikhail Kuzmin in three books “The Wonderful Life of Joseph Balsamo, Count Cagliostro”;
1921 - Alexei Tolstoy’s story “Count Cagliostro”;
1973 - mini-series by Andre Hunebel (France) “Joseph Balsamo”, a film adaptation of the novels by Alexandre Dumas the Father “Joseph Balsamo” and “The Queen’s Necklace”;
1984 - musical comedy-melodrama “Formula of Love”;
1988 - historical miniature by V.S. Pikul "Cagliostro - Friend of the Poor";
2001 - “The Story of the Necklace”, historical film drama by Charles Shyer (USA);
2014 - “Count Cagliostro” (album of the Russian rock band KNYAZZ).

Count Cagliostro in the film "Formula of Love"

In the family of a small cloth merchant Pietro Balsamo. As a child, the future alchemist was restless and prone to adventure. He was expelled from the school at the Church of St. Rocca for blasphemy (second option: for theft). For re-education, his mother sent him to the Benedictine monastery in the city of Caltagirone. One of the monks, knowledgeable in chemistry and medicine, noticing Cagliostro's penchant for chemical research, took him as his student. But the training did not last long - Balsamo was caught in fraud and expelled from the monastery. However, he himself claimed that he spent a long time studying ancient books on chemistry, medicinal herbs and astronomy in the monastery library. Returning to Palermo, Giuseppe began making “miraculous” potions, forging documents and selling supposedly ancient maps to simpletons with the places where treasures were hidden. After several such stories, he had to leave his native land and go to Messina. According to one version, it was there that Giuseppe Balsamo became Count Cagliostro. After the death of his aunt from Messina, Vincenza Cagliostro, he took her euphonious surname, and at the same time awarded himself the title of count.

In Paris, where he moved from London, Cagliostro encountered a competitor - the Count of Saint-Germain. Cagliostro borrowed several techniques from him, one of them - he forced his servants to tell the curious that they had been serving their master for three hundred years, and during this time he had not changed at all. A copy of Cagliostro's note, filmed in the Vatican, survives. It describes the process of “regeneration”, or the return of youth: “... having taken two grains of this drug, a person loses consciousness and the power of speech for three whole days, during which he often experiences cramps, convulsions and perspiration appears on his body. Awakening from this state, in which he does not, however, experience the slightest pain, on the thirty-sixth day he takes the third and last grain, after which he falls into a deep and restful sleep. During sleep, his skin peels off, his teeth and hair fall out. They all grow back within a few hours. On the morning of the fortieth day, the patient leaves the room, becoming a new person...”

Giuseppe went to study the secret sciences in the great temples of the East. He himself claimed that his thirst for knowledge was completely disinterested and had lofty goals. But, naturally, it would be stupid not to use knowledge for commercial interests, because Balsamo, among other things, learned the secret of the philosopher's stone and the recipe for the elixir of immortality.

In England

And so in 1777, the great “magician”, astrologer and healer Count Alexander Cagliostro arrived in London. Rumors about his miraculous abilities quickly spread throughout the city. They said that Cagliostro easily summons the souls of the dead, turns lead into gold, reads thoughts...

Until now he was unknown to anyone in England. No one knew where he came from or what he had done before. Cagliostro began to spread amazing and incredible rumors about himself in society: he talked about how he had been inside the Egyptian pyramids and met with thousand-year-old immortal sages, keepers of the secrets of the god of alchemy himself and the secret knowledge of Hermes Trismegistus. That is, in modern terms, Cagliostro carried out his advertising campaign very skillfully. The English Freemasons even claimed: the “Great Copt”, an adept of the ancient Egyptian rite, initiated into the mystical secrets of the ancient Egyptians and Chaldeans, had arrived to them.

During his stay in London, the mysterious foreigner was occupied with two important activities: making precious stones and guessing winning lottery numbers. Both activities brought in a decent income. But it is quite possible to grow a crystal with serious scientific knowledge, but with the lottery... It soon became clear that most of the guessed numbers were dummies. The deceived Londoners began to pursue the magician. In the end he decided not to stay in England any longer.

Outwardly unprepossessing, the count had truly magnetic power and attraction for women. According to the descriptions of Londoners, Count Cagliostro was “a dark-skinned, broad-shouldered man of middle age and short stature. He spoke three or four languages, and all of them, without exception, with a foreign accent. He behaved mysteriously and pompously. He sported rings decorated with rare precious stones. He called them “trifles” and made it clear that they were of his own production.” But despite this, the first Roman beauty Lorenza Feliciane, having refused the most eligible suitors, she married Count Cagliostro, who, by the way, did not even have his own house. Together, the Cagliostro couple wandered around Europe. In the city, Giuseppe and Lorenza arrived in St. Petersburg to the court of Her Imperial Majesty Catherine II.

Alexander Cagliostro

In Russia

In Italy

Cagliostro returned from his wanderings in Europe to Italy and settled in Rome. His main work was the creation of one of the secret Masonic lodges of the Egyptian rite. But while he was not in Rome, the situation changed radically. The French Revolution, which many associated with Masonic influence, greatly frightened the clergy. And the clergy began to hastily leave the Masonic lodges. So Cagliostro chose not the best moment for his undertaking. Soon after his arrival, he was arrested on charges of Freemasonry. A long trial began. The count was accused of witchcraft and fraud. Lorenza played a major role in the revelations of Cagliostro, who testified against her husband. But this did not help her - she was sentenced to life imprisonment in a monastery, where she soon died. Count Cagliostro himself was sentenced to public burning, but soon the pope replaced the death penalty with life imprisonment. On April 7, a solemn ritual of repentance took place in the Church of Santa Maria. Cagliostro, barefoot, in a simple shirt, knelt with a candle in his hands and prayed to God for forgiveness, while at that time in the square in front of the church the executioner burned all his magic books and magic equipment. The magician was then escorted to the castle of San Leo in the Marche mountains. Cagliostro spent four years in a dark cell. After he managed to “transform” a rusty nail into a beautiful steel stiletto without any tools, the frightened guards put him in chains. The count died in the city. According to some, from pneumonia, others claim that from poison given to him by his jailers.

Essays

Peru Cagliostro belongs to:

• brochure " Mémoire pour le comte de Cagliostro accusé contre Mr. le Procureur-Général accusateur" And
• « Lettre du comte de Cagliostro au peuple anglais».

Cagliostro arrived in Italy to found a Masonic lodge in Rome, under the very nose of the papal authorities. The Holy See did not tolerate such an open challenge. Cagliostro and his wife were imprisoned in the Castel Sant'Angelo. Inquisition investigators sought from him confessions of Masonic activity, witchcraft and connections with the devil. The Count was silent, but Lorenz could not stand it - admitting all the charges, she gave detailed testimony against her husband. This, however, did not save her. The woman was sentenced to imprisonment in a monastery, where she died less than a year later. Lorenza Feliciani remained in history not only as Cagliostro's wife, but also as one of the most famous ghosts. The Romans claim that they still see her in the Piazza di Spagna. In the very place where Lorenza accused her husband of witchcraft. Cagliostro himself, as an unrepentant heretic, was to be burned at the stake.

At the last moment, the execution was replaced with life imprisonment. There is a legend that a certain stranger came to a reception at the Vatican and gave the Pope a note that supposedly contained only one word. After reading it, the Pope pardoned the suicide bomber. But it is more likely that papal officials decided not to spoil their reputation with medieval punishment. On April 7, 1791, Cagliostro was taken to the Roman square of Minevra, where he repented on his knees and asked the Almighty for forgiveness. The fire did catch fire that day, but it was not the count himself who was burned on it, but his inventory and a rich library collected in different countries. After this, Cagliostro was taken to the castle of San Leo on the border with Tuscany, which stood on top of a sheer cliff. The prisoner was lifted there on a rope in a special box. Here the count spent four years. They didn’t take him for walks, because denunciations came to the Vatican that the Freemasons were planning to free their like-minded person with the help of a balloon. And after Cagliostro demonstrated several of his tricks to the jailers, he was completely chained.

On August 26, 1795, in the same box in which the prisoner was raised in San Leo, a body wrapped in a shroud was lowered from the cliff. Some said that Cagliostro was driven to the grave by pneumonia, others - that he was strangled by the warden, enraged by his mockery.

A few years later, a detachment of Napoleonic army entered San Leo. His commander, the Polish freemason Poniatowski, specially made a detour to free the prisoner. Hearing that the count was no longer alive, he was very upset and ordered his grave to be opened, perhaps hoping to find some secret sign in it. But the grave was never found - this became Cagliostro’s last secret. Schiller and George Sand, Richard Aldington and Alexei Tolstoy tried to unravel it in their novels.

Interest in Cagliostro continues to this day. The legend about him has long and irrevocably eclipsed the truth - and the count himself, who sacrificed his life as a sacrifice to his own vanity, would probably have been pleased with this ending to his story. (from the magazine “Biography”, text by Vadim Erlikhman)

see also

Literature

• E. Karnovich, “Cagliostro in St. Petersburg” (in “Ancient and New Russia”, 1875, No. 2)
• V. Zotov, “Gr. Cagliostro" (in "Russian Antiquity", 1875, No. 1)
• M. Kuzmin, “The Wonderful Life of Joseph Balsamo, Count Cagliostro” (Petrograd, 1919)

Wikimedia Foundation.

• 2010.
• Earl Douglas

Count Cayley (group theory)

See what “Count Cagliostro” is in other dictionaries: Cagliostro

- Cagliostro: Alessandro Cagliostro Count Alexander Cagliostro, Italian. Alessandro Cagliostro, real name Giuseppe Balsamo (Italian: Giuseppe Balsamo) (June 2, 1743 in Palermo August 26, 1795 in the Castle of San Leo) ... ... Wikipedia

Count Cagliostro is not a fictional character, he is a very real hero of his time, who shrouded himself in a halo of secrets. No one knows exactly where and when he was born. However, great mystics, for example, Carlos, always liked to add fog to their biography. So, what is known about Count Cagliostro today?

My parents are an angel and a princess

Giuseppe composed magnificent stories about his childhood and youth, spent, again, according to him, in Saudi Arabia. In Medina, the future occultist was surrounded by many slaves and slaves, ready to fulfill his every whim upon request. When he grew up, the sheriff of Medina, being his caring relative, sent the young Count Cagliostro on a journey with the wise uncle Altotas. Having traveled around the East and Africa, they ended up in Egypt, where, according to the occultist himself, he studied, thanks to the courtesy of the priests, ancient sciences and even discovered. Count Cagliostro assured that he communicated with the pharaohs and they entrusted him with a certain mission, but the secrets of the universe hid its meaning from him.

What did the great Count Cagliostro keep silent about?

According to more accurate data, Cagliostro's real name is Giuseppe Balsamo. He was born in the summer of June 1743 into a family of small textile merchants. The birthplace of the great magician and adventurer is considered to be Sicily, the city of Palermo.

The parents sought to give their son a good education, as far as their means allowed. The future occultist was naturally endowed with abilities in botany, medicine and chemistry. Taking this into account, Giuseppe was sent to the monastery of St. Benedict to be raised by an apothecary monk. It was in his laboratory that Balsamo made his first experiments. The young adventurer made elixirs of youth and other potions. But he did not have to study science for long, because, caught in fraud, he was forced to flee to Palermo.

The novice occultist's occupation covered a fairly wide spectrum. He masterfully forged passports, receipts, theater tickets, made fake maps indicating the location of non-existent treasures, and for a fee he could falsify a will or any signature.

Demonic Treasures

Giuseppe becomes close friends with a wealthy moneylender named Murano and turns his head with stories about a treasure hidden in a certain cave. Murano wants to get it at all costs; he is not even embarrassed by the fact that the entrance to the cave is guarded by demons.

The cunning Giuseppe led the moneylender to the treasured cave, where he informed about the conditions under which it was possible to take possession of the treasures. Of course, Murano was ready to fulfill any conditions. And then from the depths of the cave a voice was heard saying that he should place a “gift” for the spirits at the entrance to the cave - namely, 60 ounces of gold.

After much torment, Murano decided to do what the demons asked him to do, since the treasure was supposed to exceed the size of the offering several times. But as soon as the poor fellow brought the gold to the treasured cave, the “demons” surrounded him, dragged him to the farthest corner and began to beat him mercilessly.

When the execution was over, the old moneylender heard that now he must lie on the ground motionless for an hour, only then the spirits will reveal to him the location of the treasure. But neither an hour nor two later he heard anyone’s voice. Murano realized that he had simply been fooled.

Count's title

While traveling around Italy in search of work, Giuseppe met that same mysterious “uncle” Altotas in Messina. The nationality of this man was difficult to determine - some took him for a Greek, others for an Armenian, and others for a Spaniard. Altotas was strong in medicine, chemistry and biology - the public never tired of admiring and being amazed by his magic tricks. So, the young occultist and the Eastern magician, having met, set off together on a trip to the East.

However, before setting off on a long journey, Giuseppe decided to visit his relative in Messina, Vincenzo Cagliostro, who was his aunt. Upon learning that she died and her property was divided among relatives, Giuseppe Balsamo inherited her title and from then on began to call himself Count Cagliostro.

So, Altotas and the newly minted Count Cagliostro headed to Egypt. In Alexandria, occultists were fascinated, from whom they quickly adopted complex tricks. Count Cagliostro discovered his ability to hypnosis, and, calling himself a student of Count Saint-Germain, mastered the techniques of gambling cards. He strove to unravel the winning cards, which promised Giuseppe enormous profits.

Since Altotas had some knowledge of chemistry, this made it possible to produce fabrics dyed gold. The Egyptians valued such fabric very much, and the masters' business was not bad. In addition, they were engaged in the production of the elixir of youth, as well as the search for the philosopher's stone.

Marriage

However, Altotas soon disappeared, and Count Cagliostro went to Naples, bringing with him letters of recommendation, in order to gain access to high society. He was lucky: the adventurer easily got along with influential people who provided him with patronage. Having entered the aristocratic circle, Giuseppe charmed members of society with stories about the East and even made elixirs, although for a decent reward.

In Rome, the occultist was admired by a certain Lorenza Feliciana, who was a maid. Count Cagliostro married her, not without benefit for himself. Having become Lorenza's husband, he expressed to his young wife his views on life regarding virtue and marital honor. “There is nothing reprehensible in adultery if it is committed with the knowledge of the husband,” the count told his wife. Of course, Lorenza was shocked by such statements, but since she had already become attached to her husband, there was no talk of dissolving the marriage. Subsequently, Lorenza changed her name, becoming Seraphim, and more than once seduced the rich in order to “promote” them for the tidy sum required for the comfortable living of the Cagliostro spouses.

Count Cagliostro, having married, began to travel in search of income with the lovely Lorenza. They spent six months in Barcelona, ​​where the occultist posed as a rich Roman, secretly married and hiding from relatives. He was so convincing that they not only called him “Your Excellency,” but also lent him money. However, Count Cagliostro did not have official documents confirming his title and position, which provoked a scandal. The Count was rescued by Lorenza, who seduced a wealthy aristocrat. The high-profile case was hushed up and the couple was even given money for the trip.

Arriving in England, the great occultist committed another scam, stealing a golden casket and a diamond necklace from a noble lady. Cagliostro convinced Madame Frey that the best way to increase wealth was to bury that wealth in the ground. Having thus lost her valuables, the woman went to court. There Madame Frey was disappointed - due to a lack of evidence, Count Cagliostro was acquitted.

In England, Lorenza rarely succeeded in seducing a rich man, since the prim English tried to circumvent adultery, so the spouses often went hungry and had nothing to pay the rent. As a result, Cagliostro, having incurred debts, ended up in jail. But Lorenza saved her husband by pitying a certain noble gentleman who paid a ransom for the prisoner.

In Marseille, the Cagliostro couple met elderly alchemists who were struggling to compile a recipe for the elixir of eternal life. However, Count Cagliostro quickly became bored with this activity, and under the pretext of searching for some kind of medicine allegedly necessary for the drug, he left the old people. However, they gave him a couple of heavy bags of gold with him on the road, so that the search would be crowned with success. It seems that the count found a use for this money.

After traveling around the south of Spain a little more, casually robbing another alchemy lover in Cadiz, the scammer again decided to go to London. There he met a group of people who dreamed of inventing a way to guess winning lottery numbers. Well, of course, who, if not the famous occultist, knew a lot of such methods! Having arranged for one of the first numbers he indicated to win a substantial sum, Count Cagliostro, as if by the way, announced that it was not difficult for him to make gold and diamonds. He was immediately given a significant amount to make jewelry.

When the deception was revealed, a complaint was filed against the occultist-falsifier by going to court. However, luck did not turn away from the count: he was able to prove that he did not take money, but was engaged in cabalism solely for himself, for entertainment purposes. Moreover, he supposedly can tell the judges the winning ticket number in the next lottery. Who knows, maybe it was this argument that influenced the judges? History is silent about this.

Birth of the Great Copt

At the age of 33, Count Cagliostro founded a secret Egyptian Masonic lodge, which included European nobility. Tricks involving the transformation of base metals into gold were also enjoyed by local aristocrats. The fact that the senior masters in the lodges are not subject to anyone led the occultist to proclaim himself a Great Coptic, not controlled by anyone. The Egyptian Freemasonry he founded brought the lodge good income, which the count disposed of at his own discretion.
Noble Europeans were grateful listeners - Count Cagliostro's stories about the East made a proper impression on them.

The Masons generously supported the famous occultist, reasoning that his activities would attract numerous supporters of the Old Testament teachings to the lodge. The Count had nothing to complain about - he bathed in luxury, wasting money left and right. At his service were rich carriages and servants in expensive liveries. The ladies found Count Cagliostro very attractive and mysterious. The master, at every opportunity, strived to show off his skills.

He came up with a very complex rite of passage into Egyptian Freemasonry. There were plenty of people willing to join the secret lodge, because the almighty Kabbalist promised longevity, eternal youth and beauty, as well as spiritual perfection. Only mature people could become members of the community - ladies, no younger than 35 years old, and gentlemen who had already turned 50. Frivolous youth, according to the Great Copt, had nothing to do in the lodge.

What was the rite of initiation into the Masons of the secret Egyptian lodge?
The newcomer had to fast in solitude, during which he had to take potions prepared by the occultist himself.

On a certain day, the candidate for the blessed was bled and a bath was prepared, into which mercury was added. The consequences were very disastrous - the unfortunate man began to have a fever, convulsions, and subsequently his hair and teeth fell out.

However, Count Cagliostro assured that those who completed the full course of the ritual would gain longevity and live at least 5,500 years. True, to consolidate the result it was necessary to repeat the course after 50 years. The sorcerer himself, according to his own assurances, has lived on Earth for more than a millennium. This statement, of course, was evidence for the English nobility at the time.

Adventures of an Italian in Russia

The Cagliostro couple arrived in 1778 St. Petersburg, where she was introduced to Catherine II, who occupied the royal throne at that time. Letters of recommendation from European nobles greatly contributed to Cagliostro's approach to the Empress.

The Count is developing vigorous activity in St. Petersburg. He heals the sick, completely free of charge, and makes love potions. The fame of Count Cagliostro quickly spread among the palace nobility. They began to order him elixirs of youth, which the occultist produced for a fee. Lorenza spread the rumor that she was sixty years old, and a wonderful potion that her husband made helped her look good. There was no end to those wishing to purchase a bottle of the miraculous remedy. In fact, the deceiver was barely twenty-five.

Lorenza in St. Petersburg enjoyed increased male attention. Even the Empress’s favorite, Prince Potemkin, could not resist the charms of Lorenza, however, not without the approval of the great healer and occultist. The enraged Catherine II, having learned about the betrayal of her beloved prince, ordered the count and his wife to leave St. Petersburg. Moreover, the day before a big scandal broke out about the count’s healing abilities.

One noble lady's infant became fatally ill. Doctors refused to treat him. Then, having heard about the incredible miracles that the healer who had recently arrived in St. Petersburg performed, they sent for him. Count Cagliostro agreed to cure the baby of a fatal illness, stipulating that the child would stay in his house for two weeks, since he did not want to reveal the secret methods of his treatment. Parents were forbidden to visit their child. Two weeks later, the baby was returned to his parents, but the mother suspected a substitution. The falsification was quickly revealed, and the count had to quickly leave Russia.

The sorcerer's miscalculation

In 1789, Cagliostro returned to Rome in order to create one of the secret Masonic lodges here. However, the occultist did not know that during his absence, some political changes had occurred here. The clergy was frightened by the Great French Revolution, which took place on July 14, 1789 and was marked by the storming of the Bastille. The Masons were persecuted by the church, as they were accused of complicity in the revolutionary uprising.

Count Cagliostro was arrested and charged with Freemasonry, and at the same time with fraud. At the trial, Lorenza testified against her husband, an occultist, but the woman was also sentenced to life imprisonment in one of the monasteries. She did not live there for long - she died of some illness.

Count Cagliostro was given a terrible sentence - he was awaiting public burning at the stake - a common thing for that time. However, on the day of his execution, the Pope changed his mind, replacing the burning with public repentance, after which he was to be imprisoned in the Castle of San Leo for the rest of his life. In 1791, the alchemist, demonologist and healer Count Cagliostro repented, and his books, potions and other “magical” property were burned in the square in front of the Church of Santa Maria.

After spending 4 years in prison, the great occultist died. According to some contemporaries, from pneumonia; others doubted and attributed his death to the guards who guarded the count. After the master transformed a rusty nail into a shiny dagger, without using any tools, Cagliostro was chained and subsequently allegedly poisoned. On August 26, 1795, the greatest hoaxer passed away.

The Occultist's Last Secret

However, no one knows where the remains of Count Cagliostro are buried. His grave was not found in the cemetery in Palermo. The chaplain of San Leo, wanting to preserve the goods that the peasants were stealing from his barn, spread a rumor that the great sorcerer rested near this building. Since then, the villagers have avoided the ominous burial site, but there is no evidence that the count actually rests on the soil of San Leo. Maybe it is for this reason that they still believe that the great magician and sorcerer did not die at all, but now lives somewhere in Egypt or India.

Each age has its own mystical heroes.

Count Cagliostro is a controversial personality. Perhaps the best proof of this is that 221 years have passed since his death, imaginary or real, and rumors about him still do not subside.

In the article:

The early years of Alessandro Cagliostro

Giuseppe Balsamo

According to the official version, Cagliostro was born in Palermo, into the family of a wealthy textile merchant, Balsamo, on June 2, 1743. His father tried in every possible way to make him a priest, and the future count even studied for some time at the seminary of St. Roch. However, science did not interest him too much; the future occultist was more interested in magic tricks, ventriloquism and various adventures. He was expelled from the seminary for blasphemy.

After being expelled from the seminary, Giuseppe's parents decided to send their son to the monastery of St. Benedetto near Cartagirona. It was there that the future magician began to study alchemical science, and his potions and poultices were famous throughout the area. The monastery pharmacist became his teacher. The future occultist also became interested in astronomy. While at the seminary he showed no interest in learning, at the monastery he spent most of his time in the library, studying books and treatises. But the training at the monastery ended after the adventurer was caught in fraud or theft - the exact event that shook the trust of the monks is unknown.

From the biography of Count Cagliostro it is known that after the monastery he returned to Palermo. He attempted to build a career as a local herbalist and alchemist. However, rumors spread that, in addition to harmless herbalism, Giuseppe Balsamo, as he was then called, was also involved in more dangerous matters. They said that he summoned spirits and demons and through them learned the secrets of the underworld. Before the enraged peasants tore him to pieces, Count Cagliostro managed to escape safely to Messina, where his aunt lived.

It was then that he adopted the world-famous name - Count Cagliostro, forever renouncing his past. The aunt with whom he stayed in Messina bore the title of count and the surname of Cagliostro. After her death, the occultist awarded himself the title of count and took his aunt's surname. At least, this is how it is described in the works of A.N. Tolstoy. Count Cagliostro is not the only pseudonym of a magician and adventurer from Palermo. For example, in France he called himself Joseph Balsamo; the occultist came to Russia under the name of Count Phoenix.

In Messina, Count Cagliostro made acquaintance with the mysterious Altotas, who became his teacher and friend. It was with him that he traveled to Egypt, to Cairo and Memphis, where they engaged in various alchemical experiments and searched for the lost knowledge of the ancient Egyptians. Finally, fate brought them to Malta, where they were favorably greeted by the Master of the Order of Malta. They spent several months there, indulging in scientific and magical research. After this, their paths diverge, and the further fate of Altotas is unknown. In addition, Alessandro was familiar with another famous adventurer -.

After traveling with Altotas, Count Cagliostro returned to Italy, where he married the most beautiful, as legends say, girl of Naples - Lorenza Feliciani. After this, Count Cagliostro heads to Foggy Albion to make a splash there. And he succeeds brilliantly. If you believe the legends, in search of wisdom, Count Cagliostro visited eastern temples and monasteries, where he studied secret sciences. He himself claimed that it was there that he learned the secrets of the philosopher's stone and immortality.

What did Count Cagliostro do after his marriage? The wife became the helper and assistant of the great occultist. The couple traveled around Europe. They also visited Russia. During his travels, Count Cagliostro was engaged in providing magical services, and among his clients were Grigory Potemkin, Countess La Motte and other famous people. Incidents often happened to the occultist, which will be discussed a little below.

For obvious reasons, photographs of Count Cagliostro do not exist - he lived a century before the first photograph was taken. Portraits have been preserved that convey the rather nondescript appearance of the magician. However, this is a misleading impression. If you believe the descriptions of biographers, for example, M. Kuzmin, the count had a magnetic appeal and was very popular among the fair sex. He loved expensive clothes and jewelry. He especially loved to show off rings with precious stones. Alessandro called them trinkets and hinted that he had made them himself.

The most famous adventures of Cagliostro

His imagination was truly inexhaustible. He glorified himself in history as one of the greatest adventurers of all ages. It is possible that some particularly large-scale scams never became public knowledge, and we are not destined to learn about them. But even those that are known are truly amazing.

Treasure Cave

In Italy, Count Cagliostro made acquaintance with a rich man named Murano. After some time, he mentioned a certain cave in which a huge treasure was hidden, but to warn the unworthy, the entrance to it was guarded by demons. But it’s as if he, Cagliostro, is able to negotiate with demons with the power of his magic. And, as a friendly disposition, I am ready to help Murano get this very treasure.

The moneylender really wanted to get the treasure. So when, at the entrance to the cave, the “demons” told him that for the ransom it was necessary to leave a sufficiently large amount of gold, and the desire to get the treasure overcame professional greed. After the ransom in gold was provided, the “demons” threw the greedy man to the ground and beat him for some time. After which he was ordered to stand in one place, without moving, for an hour, and then he would learn the secret of the location of the treasure.

Of course, nothing happened after an hour or two. The angry merchant turned to law enforcement officers, and Cagliostro was forced to quickly leave Italy.

Founding of the Egyptian Masonic Lodge

In 1738, together with his wife, Cagliostro founded the Egyptian Lodge of Freemasons, which European aristocrats willingly joined. Let us remember that the 18th century was the heyday of Freemasonry, occultism, spiritualism and increased interest in the world of the unknown. That is why the count’s actions were such a crushing success.

Skillfully dispensing information, as if casually blurting out, he told his captivated listeners incredible things: as if he was born 2236 years ago, in the year when Vesuvius erupted, and the power of the volcano partially transferred to him. That he learned the secret of creating the philosopher's stone and created the essence of eternal life. That he had been traveling around the world for many centuries and was familiar with the great rulers of ancient centuries.

Over time, the popularity of the “secret” Masonic lodge exceeded all permissible limits, so the count came up with a special initiation rite in order to weed out the unnecessary ones. Only mature people could become participants: women over 30 and men over 45 years old. The subject had to keep a strict fast for quite a long time. On the appointed day, the would-be Freemason was bloodletted and forced to take a bath containing mercury. It is clear that this procedure did not add health, much less immortality, but introduced the candidate into a state of nervous excitement, a kind of trance, which helped to inspire the unfortunate man with anything.

The Egyptian Masonic lodge of Cagliostro and other heritage of the magician are still of interest to the public. There is a lot of literature on this topic. Alexander Rybalka’s book “Tables of Egyptian Freemasonry by Cagliostro” has gained a reputation for revealing the secrets of a secret society. Secrets of a Hundred Degrees." It reveals the secrets of the degrees of initiation that were accepted in the lodge of Cagliostro, or the charter of Memphis-Misraim. Among all Masonic initiatory systems, this has become the largest. Its founder was Count Cagliostro personally, as Master of the Egyptian Lodge.

Tables are a set of special ritual images. Each of them illustrates in symbolic form one of the hundred degrees of initiation into the lodge. Alexander Rybalka connects the images with the Tarot system. The images not only convey the essence of the hierarchy within the lodge, but also carry mantic meanings. That is, they can be used as fortune telling cards. The book will be useful not only to students of Masonic symbolism, but also to adherents of the fortune-telling Tarot system.

Cagliostro's unsuccessful trip to Russia

In 1779, Count Cagliostro arrived in Russia with his wife and partner Lorenza. Letters of recommendation from European monarchs, professional charm and a beautiful wife quickly made him very popular in the circles of the Russian aristocracy. He enjoyed the reputation of an excellent healer, magician and alchemist. Catherine the Great was not particularly interested in his gift, however, she did not prevent the courtiers from getting carried away with magic sessions.

Alessandro Cagliostro

Nevertheless, the Empress's favorite Grigory Potemkin was fascinated by Cagliostro and especially by his wife. The Count did not miss the opportunity to pull off a scam here either. He promised the prince that he would triple any amount of gold, provided that he took a third for himself. Since Potemkin was one of the richest men in Europe, he was amused and intrigued by the proposal. It is still unknown how Alessandro managed to pull it off, but he kept his word. After careful checks, the prince was forced to admit that Cagliostro really owned the secret of the philosopher's stone.

And yet, there were mistakes. So, one of the big ones was the fake healing of the baby of a certain aristocrat. The doctors could not help this lady, and her child was on the verge of death. Having learned about Cagliostro's great skill, she asked him for help, and the count did not refuse the woman, provided that the child would remain at his home all this time. Two weeks later, he returned a completely healthy and strong baby to his mother, but she was in no hurry to rejoice. Suspecting deception, the countess accused the adventurer of replacing the child with another.

Another major blunder was the relationship between Cagliostro’s wife and the Empress’s favorite, Count Potemkin. Of course, Cagliostro knew about their relationship and may have had a hand in it. An angry Catherine ordered the couple to leave Russia as quickly as possible and contributed to the writing and production of the play “The Deceiver,” which ridiculed his supposed supernatural powers. It is worth noting that the count managed to leave extremely gracefully. On the day of departure, all guard posts upon leaving Moscow noted that it was through them that Count Cagliostro and his wife passed.

Scandal in France

Countess de La Motte

However, perhaps his most notorious case occurred at the French court. One day, King Louis XV decided to give his mistress an unprecedented gift - a necklace of enormous value made of 629 pure diamonds. But during the years while it was being made, the old king died, and Louis XVI had no desire to spend such a large sum on a woman’s trinket. The jewelers were in despair, since they bought stones for this order on credit, but they could not do anything. So this story would have sunk into oblivion if Count Alessandro had not intervened.

As rumor says, Cardinal Rohan was unrequitedly in love with Queen Marie Antoinette. The Count and his accomplice Countess de La Motte figured out how to carry out the adventure. On behalf of the queen, they wrote a note to the cardinal, urging him to meet secretly that night. The accomplices found a girl similar in appearance to the queen, and she demanded that the cardinal, as a sign of cordial affection, act as an intermediary between her and the jewelers to redeem the necklace. Of course, the cardinal agreed. When the jewelers demanded that Marie Antoinette pay off the balance of the debt, it turned out that she knew absolutely nothing about it.

An investigation was carried out and as a result the Countess de La Motte was captured. During interrogations, she confessed to her crime and pointed to Count Cagliostro. Tom had to quickly flee France. The funny thing is that it is likely that the count had nothing to do with this scam, since clear evidence linking him to this case was not found.

Sunset maestro

Finally, tired of persecution and wandering, Count Cagliostro decides to return to Italy. He plans to open a new Masonic lodge in Rome, but luck turns against him. The Great French Revolution he predicted, which many associated with the actions of the Freemasons, frightened the highest ranks of the Catholic Church. So he was soon taken into custody and brought to trial. He was accused of promoting Freemasonry.

Literally at the last moment the execution was replaced with life imprisonment. The condition was the public repentance of the occultist, which took place on April 7, 1791 in the church of Santa Maria sopro Minerva. At the same time, in the square in front of the church, the executioner burned occult books and magical attributes of Cagliostro.

Immediately after his public repentance, the occultist was escorted to the Castle of San Leo in the mountains of Tuscany, where he spent the last 4 years of his life. His death, which occurred on August 26, 1795, is shrouded in mystery. It is not known for certain what the cause of death was and where, in fact, he was buried. Some legends point to an attack of epilepsy, stroke, pneumonia and other health problems, others - to the poison that the jailers poured into the magician’s food.

In the absence of a grave, our contemporaries lay flowers on Cagliostro's deathbed - a hard wooden bed in the dungeon of the fortress. Now there is a museum in San Leo, and every visitor can see with their own eyes the place of imprisonment of the legendary mystic and adventurer.

Many believe that the great adventurer managed to get away unscathed and escape this time too. This would be difficult, since the Castle of San Leo was a prison in which the most dangerous enemies of the Vatican were kept. In addition, to avoid escape, the occultist was kept in a cell in which a hole in the ceiling served as the door. But despite this, some have expressed theories that the master of the Egyptian Masonic lodge really knew the secret of eternal life and to this day travels the world. Despite all this, we are unlikely to ever unravel this mystery.