Triora

After harvests failed in the late 1580s, the authorities in this Argentina valley village opened proceedings against women accused of causing the famine by witchcraft; dozens were investigated, many were tortured, and several died in custody or were sent to Genoa, where the Republic eventually intervened and the trials collapsed. The village keeps the record and has run a museum on the case and on local ethnography since 1985. Triora sits at eight hundred metres with dark stone lanes, carved doorways and vaulted passages, and the surrounding mountains hold wolves and a long-standing bread-baking tradition.

The main sights

• The witchcraft museum - documents and displays on the 1580s trials.
• The stone lanes - dark vaulted passages and carved slate doorways.
• The mountain setting - a village at 800 metres in a steep valley.
• The village bread - a dark round loaf baked here for centuries.

When to go

May to October; the road up the valley is long and winding and can be closed by snow in winter. A Halloween-themed event fills the village in late October.

What to expect

The drive up is slow and narrow. The museum is small. Themed events lean heavily on the witchcraft story, which was a real persecution.

Nearby

The Argentina valley runs down to the coast; Bussana Vecchia lies south.

Key facts