Saletta di Costanzana

Saletta is a small village located in the province of Vercelli, and it is a small fraction of Costanzana. The name Saletta has clear Lombard origins, like other similar place names with the same ending, such as: Salasco, Saliceto, Saluggia and Salera. The term “Sala” was used to indicate the most important place of the “Curtis”, which was usually the residence of the most important members of “Fara”(Lombard military organization).

The story of Saletta of Costanzana, officially begins in the Middle Ages, but there are several stories and unconfirmed reports that gives reason to believe that this place was inhabited since ancient times, in the era in which giants are said to have existed. In the book of Genesis (VI, 4) it is written that the earth before the flood was inhabited by giants and the historic, Giovan Battista Modena, who lived between the sixteenth and the seventeenth century said he found the bones of a giant in the area adjacent to Saletta of Costanzana. Precisely in 1622 came the discovery of a skeleton of gigantic proportions; the historian described it as "a giant body, with an unspeakable height and thickness that I have ever seen, measured". It is said that the bones were so old that they become similar to the stone.

This story has no real historical foundation, but it was found that the area between Saletta and Tower, was once a glacier and that between the nearby hills of Monferrato is possible to find fossils of shells ... according to this theory, the story of the giants in Saletta di Costanzana might have a grain of truth.
Let’s move to the Middle Ages, here we found a first mentioning of the village in 1148 AD and then a second one in an 1152 diploma of Frederick Barbarossa. At the end of the thirteenth century, the family Saletta, owner of some structures of the village, donated all their possessions to the Monastery of San Martino in Lagatasco who later sold them for 625 Imperial Lire  to the Abbey of Sant’ Andrea. In 1481, the fief of Saletta passed to the Marquis of Monferrato, who in turn sold it to Roger Ponzoni of Milan, but it is only in 1625 that the property become possession of the Marquis Giovanni Francesco Mossi. The Marquis Mossi wanted to turn the complex of Saletta into a modern agricultural complex optimizing the harvest and focusing on the development of the social aggregation of the peasants. The project was entrusted to the architect Casale Vitili. In 1829, after the death of the last person of the Mossi family, Saletta of Costanzana passed to the Pallavicini family letting a series of eerie legends begin, especially with the birth of Giuseppe Pallavicini Mossi.
Conceived by an affair between an archbishop (Mossi) and a woman of the Pallavicini family, the child was placed in an orphanage. At age 15, while he was to pick cherries on a tree he was given the good news that he had become, by hereditary right, the owner of the large estate of “Saletta di Costanzana”. The boy contemptuous of the life and legacy uttered this sentence: "It was better than I had died when I was born". It is said that a gypsy, hearing the sentence pronounced, predicted the extinction of the race Pallavicini Mossi within four generations, and indeed, some year ago, the last Pallavicini-Mossi exponent died.

Not much is left of what it has said to be a cursed village. The village today can be divided into three principal parts : The Castle, The Church and “Il Tempietto”.  However, let’s start from the beginning…  and try to summarize the many, written and oral stories, that found place in people imaginary and sometimes even a small space on the sidebars of local newspapers.

The Church
Dedicated to St. Bartholomew, this is the first structure we meets leaving the road and it’s possible to park right in front of it. Its existence has been reported since 1280 and we know that the church belonged for a period to the abbey of St. Andrew, coming later under the diocese of Vercelli.
The structure is fairly preserved, and the access door is today locked to prevent access to the vandals who plundered it in the past. At its core, worthy of note, is a board which is believed to come from the School of Lanino and which depicts the enthroned Virgin holding its child, crowned by two angels, to her right we see San Bartolomeo on her left San Sebastiano.
Locals tell of rather gruesome events related to this church...

It is said that before the bolting of the door, the place was regularly used as place to pursue black masses and demonic rituals; the church was commonly believed to be place of worship of a specific religious sect, who adored the statue of a bull or goat with red eyes, preserved inside the church. This rumour, never confirmed, may have been inspired by the decoration of the tympanum of the church that shows a series of cow skulls in relief. What is known for sure is that the black masses went on regularly inside the church; to discourage the followers, periodic checks were scheduled by the police. In an article of "La Stampa", dated 8 December 1991, appeared some curious testimony, of local children who said to have witnessed these alleged rituals.

Adjacent to the church there is a small cemetery, which only access road is blocked by a big locked iron gate.

The Castle
Its first appearance dates back to a 1272 document, though probably its construction may dates back to an earlier period. Located nearby the church, the castle is formed by a central body surrounded by the ruins of several houses. What once was the structure of the castle, no longer exists, the structures have changed over the years and today it looks more like a farm; it is today uninhabited.

Il Tempietto
“Il Tempietto” construction is linked to the history of an unlucky couple of lovers.
The story goes that once a young girl, who belonged to the Mossi family, desperately fell in love with a knight of the “Torrione”. The man did reciprocate her love but unfortunately her family did not accepted their union, that was the reason why after being hindered in many ways they decided to kill themselves to live happily their love in the afterlife (just like Romeo and Juliet).
It so happened that one night in May the two committed suicide, leaving the Monsignor Mossi so shocked that he decided to build the actual “Tempietto” right where the two killed themselves. It is said that many have reported seeing the spirits of the two lovers appearing right next to the “Tempietto” in the night of May.
However, let’s talk now about the actual story…
Also called the tabernacle of San Sebastiano, “Tempietto” is located about fifty meters from the church and can be reached by passing a field, hidden by vegetation; its shape begins to glimpse when you are close enough to the grove. It is thought that the current structure was built on a more ancient temple dating back to the Romanesque. “Tempietto” is round shaped with twelve columns and a high base, with stairs that connect it to the ground; on the inside there was once an altar which is now completely destroyed.
On the back of the temple, at its base, we can find an opening. Looking at its inside, you can easily see a staircase that descend in the basement which has thrust function for the entire structure. Legends which dates back to the '70s, tell of an intricate network of underground which unravel from the temple to unknown directions.
We know that in the Vercelli area the average length of an underground passage ranged from 1 mile to 2, with exceptions with peaks of 7 km, as well as a few tens of meters.

According to the average distances, the Castle Tower (2.3 Km), but also some church or the castle of the nearest Costanzana, would have been a good chance to be the exit of the tunnel. The problem is that there is no input in this tiny room of “Tempietto”, moreover, along the side walls there are no signs of restoration or post masonry of any kind, while at the center, where we assumed a trap door, there is nothing but clay and earth.
Although there was a widespread fashion to bury the tunnels when they were no longer needed, there is the remote possibility that the current flooring was made up of the debris used to enclose access. It is much more likely that the tunnel had an input in the nearby church or castle, rather than under the tabernacle of San Sebastian. We still haven’t find traces of these underground today.

Italian's Ghost Town - Pentedattilo "The Devil's Hand"

Pentedattilo is an Italian abandoned village hamlet of Melito Porto Salvo in Reggio Calabria. Located about 250 meters above the sea level on the cliff of Mount Calvary, it overlooks the Ionian Sea and the stunning views of the nearby Sicily and Mount Etna. Its characteristic shape resembles a gigantic hand with five fingers, and it’s from this peculiarity that derives its name “Pentedattilo”: Penta + Daktylos = Five Fingers. Unfortunately, some parts of the mountain collapsed down and it no longer represents all of the five "fingers”. The area remains a fascinating place, related to a lots of myths and legends, full of mystery, and it is of course one of the most characteristic of the Area Grecanica. The town has ancient origins, and its foundation dates back to 640 BC.

For the Greek-Roman period, the city was a thriving and vibrant economic center, as well as an important military center, due to its strategic position of control over the torrent Sant'Elia, the privileged path to reach the Aspromonte. With the Byzantine era, for the city began a long period of decline, caused by the continuous looting made by the Saracens and later by the Duke of Calabria. After the occupation of the Normans in the twelfth century, Pentadattilo came under the rule of the Marquis Alberti. To this family, a horrible crime, committed in 1686, is linked.  We’re talking of the famous so-called “Strage degli Alberti”, unearthed by the novel of Andrea Cantadori "The tragedy of Pentidattilo." Protagonists of this story were the members of two noble Calabria families, that of Alberti, Marquis of Pentadattilo, and that of Abenavoli, barons of Montebello and former vassals of Pentidattilo. Rivalry and hatred existed from a long time between the two families; the conflict mainly regarded matter of common borders. Around 1680, the tensions between the two families seemed to be waning for both pressures of the Viceroy, which sought to pacify the area, and because the founder family Abenavoli, Baron Bernardino, planned to take Antonietta, the daughter of the Marquis Domenico Alberti, as his wife.

It so happens, however, that in 1685 the Marquis Domenico dies and is succeeded by his son Lorenzo, who, a few months after his father's death, married Catherine Cortez, daughter of the Viceroy of Naples. On such a marriage, a long and sumptuous cortege that included, in addition to the bride, the Viceroy and his wife as well as his son Don Petrillo Cortez, arrived from Naples. At the ceremony, the young Don Petrillo had the opportunity to meet Antonietta; after the marriage, Don Petrillo, due to his mother sudden illness was forced to remain in Calabria, having in that way the chance of to date the girl, whom he later felt in love with. After a brief period, Petrillo asked Lorenzo to marry his sister, but, the Marquis Alberti, not knowing his father previous accord, agreed to the wedding. The news of the official engagement between Don Cortez and Antonietta Petrillo Alberti sent on the rampage Bernardino that, hurt in feelings and pride, decided to take revenge overall Alberti family. The story goes that, on the night of 16 April 1686, Bernardino, due to the treachery of Joseph Scrufari, unfaithful servant of the Alberti, introduced himself inside the castle of Pentadattilo with a group of armed men. He first surprised Lorenzo, who was asleep, killing him with two shots of musket and finishing him with 14 stabs. Later, with his men, Bernardino rushed to the assault of the various castle’s rooms, killing most of the occupants including Simone Alberti, the 9 year old little brother of Lorenzo, fatally crashed into a rock. From this massacre were spared only: Caterina Cortez, Antonietta Alberti, her little sister Teodora, her mother Donna Giovanna Petrillo and Don Cortez, taken hostage as a guarantee against possible retaliation of the Viceroy to the Abenavoli. Antonietta and her lover were brought to the Abenavoli castle of Montebello where Bernardino, on the 19 of April, forced Antonietta to marry him. News of the massacre came to the Viceroy Cortez, who immediately sent a real military expedition. The army attacked the castle of Abenavoli, freed Don Petrillo and captured seven perpetrators of the massacre, whose heads were cut off and hung on the battlements of the castle of Pentadattilo.

The Baron Abenavoli, thanks to various tricks and support, managed to escape from the troops of the Viceroy along with Antoinette and, after entrusting his wife to a convent, ran first to Malta and then to Vienna, where he entered the Austrian army. After become an appointed captain, he was killed by a cannon ball during a naval battle in 21 August 1692. Antonietta Alberti, whose marriage was annulled by the Roman Rota in 1690 because it was the result of a violence, ended her days in the cloistered convent of Reggio Calabria, consumed by the pain and anguish, because she felt as the unintended cause of the 'slaughter of his family. Over the time, this tragic story of love and obsessive passion, to the point that blind the human soul, has given rise to many legends and rumours. It seems that the stone towers, which overlooks the town, represent the bloody fingers of the Marquis Lorenzo Alberti and the huge hand that one day will fall on men to punish them for their thirst of blood. It is also said that at night, in winter, when the wind is violently channelled between the gorges of the mountain, you can still hear the screams of the Marquis Alberti. The domination of the Alberti lasted until 1760, but those tragic events were not the only ones to undermine the existence of the small village of Pentadattilo. In 1783 a violent earthquake devastated the town and destroyed several houses. This prompted several families to move to the nearby Melito Porto Salvo, and to call this place "the walking country" just because of the instability of the soil and rock that hosts it.

Today Pentadattilo lives in the memory of those people who know its history and that, with emotion and enthusiasm, do not hesitate to tell others fascinating legends of this charming village that still has much to offer and to tell. Thanks to the passion and commitment of these people, since the early '80s, Pentadattilo was rediscovered by young people and associations who have started a slow path to recovery with the help of volunteers from all over Europe. A concrete result of this voluntary work is the restoration of the church of SS. Peter and Paul, which now houses a church choir. Moreover, every summer Pentadattilo is the destination of the traveling festival "Paleariza", an important event that takes place annually in the province of Reggio Calabria. In addition, between August and September the city hosts the "Pentedattilo Film Festival", an international festival of short films that combines film and territory. Calabria, in which palm lies the ghost town of Pentadattilo, one of the most beautiful and fascinating places of Aspromonte, and from which derives its nickname “The hand of the Devil”.

Italian Ghost Towns - Craco

Craco is an abandoned “comune” of the Province of Matera (Italy), which is characterised by a very stark appearance. Constructed on the highest side of the hilltop, it overlooks the Cavone River alley; its territory is very diverse, with a predominance of gullies, deep furrows in a chalky soil by descent to the valley of rainwater. Due to recurring earthquakes and to a disastrous landslip, probably caused by terrible works of infrastructure: sewer and water systems, the city had been deserted in 1963. The fortune of the country, in its ancient past was due to its strategic location between the river valleys of the Tschafon and Agri, formerly navigable as well as privileged ways for anyone wishing to cross the inner Basilicata. In fact, the tower of Craco formed, together with other fortifications of the area as the Petrolla of Montalbano, the Norman-Swabian castle of Pisticci and the castle of San Basilio, a network of towers able to guarantee the absolute control of the whole area. In the fifteenth century, the city expanded around four palaces:
·         Maronna Palace, near the tower that dominates the country, is characterized by a beautiful monumental brick entrance and a large terraced balcony
·         Palazzo Grossi, close to the Mother Church, has a high portal architrave, frameless. The upper floors are covered with ribbed vaults and are decorated with floral motifs enclosed in medallions. Part of the windows and balconies retain wrought iron railings
·         Carbone Palace, built at the end of 400, has a monumental entrance. In the eighteenth century it was renovated and expanded
·         Palazzo Simonetti
Still visible are the ruins of a tower, called by Craco’s inhabitants "the castle”. For almost six decades, Craco appears today as it was then, that as a country frozen and never lived. According to many fans of the paranormal, ghosts would haunt the streets of the town and disturbing noises and voices would have been heard. Believe it or not, a walk to the town center is really a special experience, evocative, mystical, dark-hued and melancholy. Among the ruins of the walls and the palace, between the castle and the church, the ghost town offers you excitement to no end. No wonder if this place of charm and magic has been the set of many national and not sets. "The Lupa" by Alberto Lattuada, "Christ Stopped at Eboli" by Francesco Rosi, "Nativity" by Catherine Hardwicke, "The Passion of the Christ" by Mel Gibson, "007 - Quantum of Solace," by Marc Forster, and "Basilicata coast to coast" by Rocco Papaleo. In this city suggestions are not fiction, but solid reality: Welcome to Cracow, the ghost town!

Important Advice:
Anyone who wants to venture in Craco must keep in mind that it is forbidden to approach the houses, since there is the danger of collapse. However, the panorama that can be admired from the foot of the village there will amply repay the time taken to reach it. Going to Craco with a specialized guide means being able to see the country safely and be able to make out the most beautiful sights that will be framed in the right historical context.
http://www.comune.craco.mt.it/cracocard/dettagli.html