Everyone has heard of werewolves right? In Italian they’re called ‘Lupo Mannaro’. In ancient Roman times these creatures were actually believed to be living among humans! Werewolves by definition are men that were born with the ability to turn into nights of a full moon or other magical nights of the year.
Strangely, Christmas night on the 25th December was considered a prime night for men/werewolves to be born!
Why not stay in a glorious holiday villa in Sicily where many mythical stories of these creatures were born!
Strangely, Christmas night on the 25th December was considered a prime night for men/werewolves to be born!
Why not stay in a glorious holiday villa in Sicily where many mythical stories of these creatures were born!
Many tales throughout Italy tell of men condemned to roam the earth as a werewolf due to being cursed by a saint or excommunicated from the church. Although there are nearly as many stories on how to cure a werewolf, or how to stop the transformation from man to wolf. Two such methods were to restrain the man in a cold bath when he’s about to change or to throw a metal key as him! More extreme methods on how to kill a werewolf were to load a gun with silver bullets or a crossbow with a silver tipped arrow and shoot it!
In Sicily, werewolf stories remind us that these creatures apparently cannot climb more than three steps at once so finding a flight of stairs to run up would be extremely helpful if one ever happened to chase you!
In Sicily, werewolf stories remind us that these creatures apparently cannot climb more than three steps at once so finding a flight of stairs to run up would be extremely helpful if one ever happened to chase you!
Most dialects in Italy have their individual term for the fearsome werewolve and most have a fascinating story attached too! One legend speaks of a werewolf attacking a priest in Ragusa. Terrified, the priest stabbed the beast with a wooden crucifix and caused it to bleed.
Then it transformed back into a human man who thanked the priest profusely for breaking the evil curse that had been placed on him as a child. Every full moon the tormented man had transformed into a werewolf and was forced to roam the countryside until dawn rose above the horizon.
These are just a few snippets of the many stories and myths about the werewolf creature in Italy so be sure to ask the locals of towns and villages you visit what they might know of the 'Lupo Mannaro'. Check out our collection of 'Legends of Tuscany' stories to entice you to learn even more about this country's incredible culture and history!
Then it transformed back into a human man who thanked the priest profusely for breaking the evil curse that had been placed on him as a child. Every full moon the tormented man had transformed into a werewolf and was forced to roam the countryside until dawn rose above the horizon.
These are just a few snippets of the many stories and myths about the werewolf creature in Italy so be sure to ask the locals of towns and villages you visit what they might know of the 'Lupo Mannaro'. Check out our collection of 'Legends of Tuscany' stories to entice you to learn even more about this country's incredible culture and history!
Photo credits
picture 2: Techwolf Lupindo / CC BY-SA 2.0;
picture 3: Massimilianogalardi / CC BY-SA 3.0
picture 2: Techwolf Lupindo / CC BY-SA 2.0;
picture 3: Massimilianogalardi / CC BY-SA 3.0