The fascinating story of Nocino, the witches’ liqueur.
Patron saints. Every Italian town has one and a local public holiday for celebrating their heavenly protector. In some italian regions, San Giovanni Battista or John the Baptist, is venerated […]
#May 25, 1904: The revenge of the witch of Yazoo
Urban legends are fascinating bits of history that often contain at least some kernel of truth. In Yazoo, located north of Jackson, in the western part of Mississippi, there’s a […]
Malleus Maleficarum: the sacred text used to identify witches
Between 1227 and 1235, the Inquisition against witches and heretics was established with a series of papal decrees: Pope Innocent’s bull Ad Extirpanda of 1252 authorized the use of torture […]
The curious history of the Milan area that remained immune to the plague: an eccentric marquis, a witch or simply coal?
Before 1630 Milan had over one hundred thousand inhabitants. In 1632 there were forty-seven thousand. In the middle there was the most violent plague epidemic in the history of the […]
The last execution in Iceland: a mysterious murder case that’s intrigued a country for nearly 200 years
For centuries, some small farms near the water on Iceland’s Vatnsnes peninsula are scattered among the grassy fields and rocky hills, more or less content to be living at the […]
The truth behind the haunted house that fascinates all Bologna – Italy
Are you familiar with the classic abandoned houses, dark and falling apart? Those houses that seem a set of a horror movie? In short, the houses in the middle of […]
La Giubiana: a curious tradition linked to the last Thursday of January in Northern Italy
A great fire that will illuminate the darkness, with the hope that it will burn well and quickly so as to drive away the winter and propitiate the year that […]
Sostila, the uninhabited village where the road don’t go
Of countries without roads, in Italy, are few left: one of these is Sostila in Val Fabiolo, a small picturesque valley out of time in Valtellina, between Morbegno and Sondrio. […]
Scotland: the curse of the Paisley witches.
We are in Paisley, Scotland. Here, any tragic events and misfortunes in the town over the last 300 years, they say, were caused by a curse. In the middle of […]
Steilneset Memorial: a suggestive monument to the victims of the 17th century Norwegian witch trials
On the stark, barren coast of the Barents Sea in Vardø, Norway, there are pair of modern but impact structures known collectively as the Steilneset Memorial which honors the memories […]
Naples, Italy: in November the first Black Cat Museum opens.
Who does not remember “Tournée Du Chat Noir”, one of the most famous nineteenth century posters that advertised the Parisian coffee house of the same name? Even today the poster […]
Triora: the Italian Village of the Terrifying trial to the Witches.
Triora is a medieval village once a crossroads of considerable importance for trade between Italy and France. In 1587, bad weather and pitiful crops led to a famine, and the […]
Bolivia’s Witch Market – Mercado de las Brujas
If we are on Calle Jiminez and Linares between Sagarnaga and Santa Cruz in, it’s impossible not visit the Witches’ Market of La Paz, Bolivia, which is located right in […]
Maggie Wall’s Memorial: a misterious Witch memorial in Scotland.
We are outside of a small village of Dunning, located in the former parklands of Duncrub Castle, where there is a misterious monument. It’s a collection of stones about 6 […]
