Ligurian mountain village of Triora - "The town of witches"

A village in Italy known for its witches prepares for Halloween

AP Archive

Triora, Italy - 16 October, 2007
1. Various of mountain village at night
2. Tilt down to sign in Italian reading 'The path of the witches'
3. Mid of village at night
4. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Daniela Coscioli, local resident
"Well, when you live here you become fascinated, and it has its own singular appeal."
5. Close of shop window with witches
6. Various of shop window with pumpkins and witches
7. Close of plastic spider
8. Close of stuffed owl
9. Various of Lila Lanteri dressed as a witch walking in street
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Lilia Lanteri, local resident
"It means feeling something different, to have a certain knowledge, to know the history of the village, to help people as well. Because the Triora witches are positive, these women have always helped and healed, only they were not understood. They have been tortured and killed because nobody understood them."
11. Various of witch Antonietta walking about town
12. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Antonietta Alberti, local witch
"Living here in this witches' village I have become more enthusiastic of knowing more. Because, what did witches do in the past? Some healed with plants, some hated. When they had fights, it was war among the witches of Triora (cutaways). There were good and bad ones, they were not all bad witches."
13. UPSOUND: (Italian) Antonietta Alberti, local witch (preparing herbs)
"If you hurt yourself, you take this herb and do like this, then squash it with the mortar with some verbena."
14. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Antonietta Alberti, local witch
"If you believe that some woman is jealous of you, the only thing to save yourself is to put seven salt grains and a garlic clove in your pocket and always keep it on you, always. Then nobody can touch you any more."
10. Various of interior of witch museum
11. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Lorenzo Lanteri, mayor of Triora
"A very intricate trial started, which lasted three years, with over 200 local women involved, a child and an elderly. This was without a doubt the biggest witches trial in Italy. It didn't end up with stakes, even though thirteen were sent to the stake, because both the Republic of Genoa and the Inquisition put a halt to it. However, in reality five women died in the Genoa prisons, and three died while being tortured."
12. Close of halloween masks
13. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Vox Pop, name not provided
"Sure we are going to get down and carve pumpkins, many of them."
14. Various of man carving pumpkin
15. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Luana Bertol, local resident
"Halloween celebrations spontaneously started taking place here, because people found the ideal setting in the village."
16. Close of carved pumpkin
17. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Luana Bertol, local resident
"On 31 October in the evening Triora will be all lit up with 200 pumpkins. There will be a designated tour of the village, and we have also organised a prize for the best Halloween costume for men, women and couples."
18. Various of woods close to village
19. Various of witches festival billboard
20. Close of street sign warning of witches
LEAD IN:
Halloween preparations are under way in a small village in Italy's Maritime Alps that is celebrated for its spooky history.
The mountain town of Triora has a long and chequered history with the occult dating back to the 1500s.
Today the town is the prefect backdrop to celebrate Halloween on the 31 October.
STORYLINE:
Walking through the narrow cobbled streets of Triora is like stepping back in time.
Dilapidated 500-year old buildings add to the 'mystical' atmosphere of this mountain town.
Daniela Coscioli is a local resident who says living in Triora is 'bewitching'.
Some villagers say one derelict building, known as La Cabotina, at times shines a bright green light.

 
'The Town Of Witches'

The location of the last witch trials of Italy, known as "The Salem of Europe."

“Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?” In Triora, Italy, it didn’t matter what kind of witch you were, witches burned. And to this day, the town remembers.

In 1587, bad weather and pitiful crops led to a famine, and the desperate residents of Triora became convinced that only the work of witches could bring such misfortune. The Inquisitor of Genoa and Albenga and the priest Girolamo del Pozzo arrived and verified the local parliament’s suspicions. Indeed, evil was afoot, and soon the first 20 women were rounded up, selected by the pointed fingers of parishioners that had been riled up during mass. 20 became 30 as the women were convinced through torture to name more of their Satanic sisters. Soon 18 of the accused broke down and confessed, dragging in 13 women, four young girls, and a single young boy as well.

The Council of Elders appealed to the Inquisitors to take it slow. Out of the 30 accused and tortured, several were nobles or from influential families. The trials hadn’t even begun and one of those noblewomen had died from the torture, another had flung herself out a window to her death. They were more or less ignored, but one 13-year-old girl was released, likely the daughter of someone important. The capture of these women set off witch hunts in neighboring countries, and for two years, women of Italy were rounded up and tortured mercilessly for supposed crimes against God, their neighbors, and most of all, tiny, innocent children.

At least four of the women were burned at the stake, despite there being a considerable amount of doubt from the government that the confessions were enough to uphold such a gruesome sentence. There’s conflicting reports on how the others fared, some accounts say they all burned eventually, some say they were imprisoned in Genoa until the Holy Office responded to requests to end the madness and set them free. Either way, the modern town of Triora revels in its morbid history.

First, there is the obvious, a museum, dedicated to the area’s agricultural and rural history, but focusing on the trials. The Ethnographic and Witchcraft Museum contains artifacts from the trials, as well as reconstructions of the tortures and interrogations. Beyond the predictable museum however, you’ll find signs of witchy workings all over town –witchy souvenirs, signs, statues, and even tours to the former homes of the accused, Monte delle Forche, the mountain where many met their fiery fate, and the alleged location of the baby-eating and Devil worshipping, the dreaded La Cabotina.

A hotspot of spooky festivals, the town hosts three major events throughout the year–a summer witchcraft festival and two fall events; the mushroom festival in September; and of course, Halloween.


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Mike Smith

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