Triora - Triora

Triora is a center of the Liguria.

To know

Witchcraft trials

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 being the perpetrators of the continuous plagues, acid rain, killing of livestock and even cannibalism towards infants. The documents of the trials and the interrogation reports are currently kept in the State Archives of Genoa. The convictions for alleged witchcraft caused the death at the stake of several girls and even a boy. 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.

Triora is part of the most beautiful villages in Italy and has been awarded the orange flag by the Italian Touring Club, but is also known as the land of witches, since in the sixteenth century there were famous trials against women found guilty of witchcraft.

Geographical notes

The territory of Triora is located almost entirely in the Argentina valley, and minimally in the valley of the Tanarello torrent (spring branch of the Tanaro river) in whose basin the Monesi hamlet rises; the artificial lake is almost entirely included in the municipality. It is 47 km from Imperia, 38 from Sanremo, 50 from Ventimiglia, 46 from Curtain (France).

Background

Probably of origin from the tribe of the Liguri Montani, after the Roman Empire it was part of the Marca Aleramica. It then entered the orbit of Ventimiglia, therefore of the Republic of Genoa. The creation of new city walls and the erection of five defensive fortresses created a sort of fortified, almost impregnable nucleus, which put a strain on the troops of Emperor Charles IV in the attempted conquest of the village. Even the Republic had considerable problems in its management, slightly exacerbated by the continuous taxes imposed on the inhabitants, so much so that the head of the militias was imprisoned and part of the fortress destroyed.

Despite the disagreements created, the population responded positively to war calls, especially in the famous Battle of Meloria in 1284, where Triora and his podestà sent about two hundred and fifty crossbowmen in support of Genoa in the seafaring battle against Pisa.

After the fall of the Republic of Genoa, after the Napoleonic period it became Savoy and then merged into the kingdom of Italy.The Second World War was particularly disastrous for Triora, which suffered the fury of the Nazi troops on 2 and 3 July 1944: the village was given to the flames and entire neighborhoods were razed to the ground.

How to orient yourself

Its municipal territory also includes the villages of Bregalla, Cetta, Creppo, Goina, Loreto, Monesi, Realdo and Verdeggia.

How to get

By plane

• Cristoforo Colombo Airport in Genoa. It is connected to the Genova Brignole railway station with the Volabus, a bus service calibrated for national and international arrivals.

Direct flights: Milan Malpensa, Turin, Cagliari, Naples, Palermo, Catania, Alghero, Olbia, Trapani, Trieste, Rome Fiumicino.

International flights: London Stansted, Paris CDG, Cologne, Munich, Brussels, Amsterdam, Barcelona, ​​Istanbul. 

• Galileo Galilei Airport of Pisa. It is more convenient to get there Riviera di Levante, Spice or le Five lands as it is directly connected by train. 

By car

• Arma di Taggia motorway exit on the A10 motorway Genoa - Ventimiglia.
• It is crossed by the state road 548 of the Argentina Valley.

On the train

• Railway station of Weapon of Taggia.

By bus

• It has a line connection with Arma di Taggia.

How to get around

What see

• Castle. Built by the Genoese in the thirteenth century in order to defend their territorial borders, some fascinating ruins now remain. 
• Parish Church of Our Lady of the Assumption. Collegiate Church, it has a grandiose layout. Of Roman Gothic origins of the XII-XIV century, it was subsequently transformed. Inside it preserves a late thirteenth-century table, the Baptism of Christ by Taddeo di Bartolo who painted it in 1397 and two fourteenth-century canvases by an unknown artist: The pity is St. James the Minor. 
• Church of San Bernardino. Country church, it is located in a deviation of the road that climbs towards the inhabited area. It dates back to the 15th century and has a characteristic side portico; inside it houses a cycle of frescoes from the Ligurian-Piedmontese school attributed in part to Giovanni Canavesio di Pinerolo. 
• Church of Sant'Antonio Abate. 
• Church of San Dalmazio. It rises near the ruins of an ancient fortification that bears the same name. 
• Church of the Madonna delle Grazie. 
• Church of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria. Erected in the 14th century and rebuilt in 1390, it is currently in a state of ruin. 

• Church of Sant'Agostino. There Madonna of Mercy, sculpted by the Genoese Paolo Olivari, is kept in this church. With a cross and a fourteenth-century crucifix it is carried on the Mountain in the traditional procession on the second Sunday after Easter. 
• Oratory of San Giovanni Battista. Sacred building built to the right of the Collegiate Church in 1694, on twelve pillars. Of seventeenth-century construction. Inside there is a statue depicting the owner of the building, a wooden work by Antonio Maragliano who was active between the 17th and 18th centuries; there are also works by painters from Trieste: Giovanni Battista and Lorenzo Gastaldi, and a painting by Luca Cambiaso. 
• Loreto bridge. A very high bridge (112m) with a single span (119m) in reinforced concrete joins, in the Loreto region, the town of Triora with the hamlet of Cetta, located on the opposite side of the deep gorge of the Argentina stream. In 1959 it was probably built to experiment with new construction techniques, as the sparsely populated region thus reached certainly did not justify the high cost of construction. In past years it has been home to bungee jumping. After several suicides committed right from the top of the bridge, its parapets have been made higher and safer with the addition of a grid. 

Museums

• Triora ethnographic and witchcraft museum, Corso Italia 1, ☎ 39 0184 94477, @[email protected]. The Ethnographic Museum also has, in the basement, a section dedicated to the collection of documents, testimonies and objects relating to the famous witchcraft trials that were held in the village in 1587. 

Events and parties

• Procession of the Madonna del Monte. second Sunday after Easter. 
• Traditional fair. First Sunday of June. 
• Patronal Feast of the Assumption. on August 15. 
• Strigòra. A day with the witches of Triora. The Sunday after mid-August. 
• Mushroom Festival. fourth Sunday of September. 

What to do

Shopping

Among the products of the village, the most famous is certainly the bread, which has a characteristic round shape and particular goodness. Other productions include mountain pasture cheeses, the best known of which is bruzzo, derived from the fermentation of ricotta, has a slightly spicy flavor and is recommended as an excellent sauce for pasta, but it can also be enjoyed with bread and fresh tomatoes. The mountain location also favors the production and harvesting of mushrooms, chestnuts and honey.

How to have fun

Where to eat

Potato and vegetable pies, lean ravioli, lasagna with turnips, bügaéli (lumps of chestnut flour cooked in milk), are the dishes of the place. Even the desserts take advantage of the local packaging, with genuine products, homemade jams according to traditional recipes.

Average prices

• The Cat Grass, Via Roma 6, ☎ 39 0184 94392, @[email protected]. 
• Da Giovanna Restaurant, Via Nuova 54, ☎ 39 0184 94026. 

Where stay

Average prices

• Santo Spirito Hotel Restaurant, Piazza Roma, 23, Molini di Triora, ☎ 39 0184 94019. 

Safety

How to keep in touch

• Italian post, Corso Italia 7, ☎ 39 0184 94041, fax: 39 0184 94621. 

Around

• Sanremo — City of flowers and of the Festival, it is an important center of the Riviera di Ponente.
• Weapon of Taggia
• Bordighera - Important seaside resort, has the ancient center on a promontory.

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Triora
• Commons contains images or other files on Triora

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