Abstract

The paper traces and analyzes the history of the «Meditation Room» planned to be set up within the Italian National Parliament, and explains the reasons why this project (started in 2006) was never realized. Despite what the main protagonists maintain, the end of parliament's term and the fall of the government were not the only reasons why the Meditation Room project was not carried through; on the contrary, the project itself had gained wide consensus. This therefore seems to be a case of successful failure. Why is such an episode worth discussing? Some interesting issues are hidden in its details. The article discusses two of them: the relationship between political space and sacred practices in the Italian context (with a fleeting comparison with on-going discussions in Turkey) on the one hand, and the broader issue of sacred places and their features in contemporary societies on the other.