Triora: The Italian Salem

America has Salem and Italy has Triora in Liguria.

This charming town's appearance does not belie its troubled and bloody past and will forever be interconnected with witches and witchcraft.

It all goes back to 1587, when bad weather and a bad harvest lead locals from the town to speculate as to what was causing all of their misfortune. They came to the logical conclusion: it had to be the fault of witches. The rest, as they say, is history.

Find a holiday rental in Liguria and you can uncover this disturbing and fascinating history for yourself, all while enjoying the delightful town that Triora is today.

Local suspicions weren't enough to see the beginning of a witch trial but once the Inquisitor of Genoa and Albenga and the priest Girolamo del Pozzo arrived and verified the local parliament's suspicions, events that would forever mark the town began to unfold. At first, 20 women were rounded up, then this number grew to 30 when a bout of torture saw the women name more others. 18 of the accused broke down and confessed: 13 women, four young girls, and one young boy.

The events in Triora triggered witch hunts in neighboring areas, and for two years, women of Italy were rounded up and tortured mercilessly for supposed crimes against God and their neighbors. Four of the women were burned at the stake in the town and the fate of the others is uncertain but varying accounts say they were eventually put to death as well or imprisoned in Genoa until the Holy Office ended the madness and set them free.

Despite the horror that these events caused at the time, the town has since come to revel in its history. The Ethnographic and Witchcraft Museum contains artifacts from the trials, as well as reconstructions of the tortures and interrogations. Throughout the town there are all sorts of reminders of the past; witchy souvenirs, signs, statues. There are even tours to the former homes of the accused, Monte delle Forche - the mountain where they were burned at the stake, and the alleged location of the legendary La Cabotina, a place where baby-eating and Devil worshipping supposedly took place. Additionally, there is also two festivals dedicated to witches in the town each year; a summer witchcraft festival and Hallowe'en.

For those interested in history, witch trials, witchcraft and spooky things, the town is a must when visiting Italy and, for everyone else, Triora is a fascinating and beautiful town full of things to see and do.