I would like to ask for help with the following sentence:
It was a compound of unusual esthetic and intellectual elements, and was somehow closely allied in my thoughts with the same fascination that has drawn me ever since childhood toward all things that are remote in space and time, or which have about them the irresolvable twilight of antiquity.
I cannot tell for sure which part of the sentence is the bold part referring to. Is is referring to the preceding sentence (things that are remote..) or to the first part (elements..)? Also, could the "have about them" be written in another way? I am not sure I understand its meaning.