Triora, Imperia, Liguria, Italy, Europe

After a period of peace from the 15th to the 16th century, where churches and other works of art were built, the local history of Triora testifies to the famous witchcraft trials carried out from 1587 to 1589. Some local women were accused of causing the famine that it was occurring on the municipal territory. The documents of the trials and the interrogation reports are currently kept in the State Archives of Genoa. Thirty-five women were accused of witchcraft; nineteen of them, besides one man, were imprisoned in Genoa. Five perished behind those bars, while nine did not survive the torments in Triora and Badalucco. Fortunately, the Holy Office intervened and the witches were condemned to salutary penances (three) and to publicly abjure in Triora (seven). Instead, those who, warned to tell the truth, had not confirmed their first confessions would have been released (eight). For a defendant it was requested that the Genoese Inquisition instruct the trial and send it to Genoa. The only man under investigation, the boy Biagio Verrando, was sentenced to abjure in Triora. It was the largest Italian trial for witchcraft of the late sixteenth century, so ferocious that the town was nicknamed the "Salem of Italy". Even today the town is known for its witch trials (or alleged witches) which subsequently triggered the same reactions in other Ligurian and Italian villages. In memory of these events, a real festival dedicated to witchcraft called Strigora has been established which takes place on the first Sunday after August 15th in the streets of the ancient village.