My maternal grandparents immigrated from a small town in Southern Italy called Alife. It’s located in the Province of Caserta (Campania), a beautiful place that sits in a valley surrounded by the Matese Mountains. I have been blessed to visit the town of my ancestors many times. While I am eager to share stories of my first visit in 1988, at the age of 24, this article focuses on an amazing discovery I believe is divine in nature.

This past fall I was taking Italian lessons, and for an assignment, I decided to report on Alife. The town is surrounded by a Roman wall with four gates — Porta Napoli, Porta Piemonte, Porta Roma, and Porta Fiume — that remain intact to this day. While researching these structures, I stumbled upon an article titled The Alife Arch App.