The Curse of Oak Island: HISTORIC New Evidence FOUND in Italian Abbey

NARRATOR: …Rick Lagina, his nephews Alex Lagina and Peter Fornetti, along with Doug Crowell, are beginning a research trip to investigate the possible origins of the 229-year-old mystery.

EMILIANO: Welcome to Morimondo. This is the Cistercian Abbey of this little town.

NARRATOR: Today, researcher Emiliano Sacchetti and archeoastronomer Professor Adriano Gaspani have arranged for the team to visit Morimondo Abbey, the site of a monastery that was established by Cistercian monks back in the 12th century. Before we get into the church, I would like to show you something.

RICK: The breadth of knowledge that Professor Gaspani has is integral to this process. And he said there was indeed a very profound connection between Templars and Cistercian monks. And the hope is there’ll be a connection between that knowledge and perhaps a voyage to the New World. And of course, to the island in particular.

EMILIANO: So, on top of the facade, you can see some ceramic vessels? -Oh, yes. -Yeah. EMILIANO: And if you pay attention, on the left side, there is a group of five. Two have very specific symbolism. I see it. -I see a couple of four-dot crosses. -EMILIANO: Yeah.

DOUG: We have the four-dot cross carved on the H+O Stone on Oak Island.

NARRATOR: Discovered on the northern shore of Oak Island back in the 1920s, the so-called H+O Stone, which featured a cross surrounded by four dots, was part of a larger boulder that had been detonated by searchers who mistakenly believed that it marked the location of buried treasure. Is it possible that the team has found an important clue outside of Morimondo Abbey that offers more evidence connecting the Knights Templar to the Oak Island mystery?

So what about getting into the church and taking a look? -ALEX: Yep. -Yeah, that’d be great. -Love to. Yep.

RICK: The H+O stone, it’s an integral part of the story. And if it was meaningful to the people who were here, i.e., the Cistercians and perhaps the Templars… me, personally, I think it’s too ubiquitous a symbol for it and too iconic to Oak Island for us to ignore it.

-Wow. -Oh, wow.

ALEX: Look at this. I did not expect this. -PETER: Yeah. -ALEX: Wow. Yeah, it’s… It’s stunning.

EMILIANO: So, this is it. 60 meters by 13. So, very long and narrow. Eight massive pillars on each side. But, let-let’s just spread out and take a look.

ALEX: It’s interesting that we see this four-dot cross on the H+O Stone, which we seem to see at a lot of Templar sites, which is very interesting. The church there has several really significant orientations and markings, and I’m excited to find out more. You see the Templar cross?

DOUG: Oh, yeah.

ALEX: I’m hopeful that we will be able to learn something, or at least see some symbols here that could be really important to help us figure out what’s going on on Oak Island.

Okay. I think it’s time to go -to the scriptorium. -ALEX: Okay. I’m really looking forward to show it to you guys. -Okay. -You lead the way.

The scriptorium was a place where the monks used to study, copy, illuminate the manuscript that were recording the knowledge of the times. So, this is the-the scriptorium, and here in this place there were at least ten monks working, copying manuscript, studying them. And, as you can see, it’s beautifully decorated. These paintings are actually made by Cistercian monks. It’s not a later addition. And we’re talking around the mid-13th century.

ALEX: Wow. Right over your shoulder there… -EMILIANO: Y-You mean this one? -ALEX: Yep. We saw that in the Templar prison in Domme. We did. -What it reminds you? -Well, the tree of life. Yeah?

NARRATOR: A painted depiction of the tree of life? The sacred religious symbol believed by many to represent a pathway to God?

JERRY: I think it’s possible that this might have been inspired by the Kabbalistic tree of life.

NARRATOR: In 2017, Rick, Alex, and Peter visited a 14th-century prison in Domme, France, where members of the Templar order had been incarcerated in 1307 by King Philip IV on charges of heresy. However, some believe that the true reason for the Templar persecution was for the Catholic Church to confiscate the religious treasures that they possessed, which may have included the Ark of the Covenant. Much of the Templar treasure has never been found.

NARRATOR: But, curiously, Nolan’s Cross on Oak Island, which Professor Gaspani believes was created by Templar Knights around 1200 AD, has also been thought by some to represent the tree of life. And on the opposite side of the pillar, there is another four-dot cross. What we learned last year is that this cross marks a special place. The scriptorium, for a monk, -it was a special place. -ALEX: Mm-hmm.

RICK: I wonder if the work that was done here was meant to be so secret and so… precious that only few were allowed the actual information. Yeah.

EMILIANO: The Templars, they were bringing back the knowledge from the Holy Land and put into practice what they have learned through the help of the Cistercians. The only reason why I ask that question, Emiliano, is because, I mean, when I look at the cross there, I see oak leaves. If you’re bringing information back from foreign lands, part of that information is gonna be knowledge of, um, exotic plants.

DOUG: Are you envisioning a 13th-century Cistercian scribe copying information about activities on Oak Island?

Yeah, I certainly believe that what was done on Oak Island would be preserved within Templar hierarchy.

ALEX: Yeah. I think if there was somebody with knowledge of the New World, this is a plausible way for that information to be disseminated. But we’re still looking for the proof of that. As this trip ensues, we may find something that is even more definitive.

NARRATOR: As their quest for answers to a 229-year-old mystery continues, can the Laginas and their team find proof more than 3,000 miles away that Oak Island is home to a treasure that could re-write history as we know it?