The idea of the supernatural knows how to give an adrenaline rush that few other things in the world can give. Going to places where sightings have occurred or that have around them as an aura of mystery, maybe just on Halloween, we are sure will meet your horror expectations. October 31 is fast approaching, so what better plan to greet his arrival, than to study a tour through the scariest places in Tuscany?
Here are six disturbing and haunted places, among museums, castles and abandoned villages .
Museum of torture in San Gimignano
In San Gimignano, there is the Museum of Torture and the Death Penalty, where you can see disturbing devices used to torture victims during the Roman Inquisition. These include instruments such as guillotines, torture chairs used on those who were considered heretics and the unfortunately famous Virgin of Nuremberg, a kind of sarcophagus where there were sharp spikes inside.
Some of the common accusations included homosexuality, promiscuity, Judaism, and Protestantism.
The abandoned village of Buriano
Let's start discovering the ghost town of Buriano, in the province of Pisa, abandoned twice by modern history: the first during the Italian economic miracle, when people moved en masse to inhabited centers to find work - and then again in the 90s, after a failed attempt to relaunch the country through the development of tourism. In the abandoned village you will find some houses, a small church and a cemetery.
The terrifying ghost of Brolio Castle
The castle of Brolio, in the province of Siena, is a beautiful architectural jewel but also houses a disturbing legend and the ghost of Bettino Ricasoli, a rather fearsome spirit. The castle belonged to the Ricasoli family since 1141 and passed as an inheritance to Bettino in 800: he soon became a very important and powerful man in Chianti and was nicknamed "The Iron Baron". The nickname 'iron' came from the fact that he was rigid and inflexible and that he was feared by the peasants who worked on his land; he eventually died of heart problems. However, after his death, things began to get strange. From that moment on, many say they spotted it in the park and then, stories emerged of sudden bitter cold winds, doors and windows slamming violently by themselves, beds found unmade in the morning; the stories about the ghost of Bettino continue not to be missing even today so we can recommend it to those looking for scary places in Tuscany.
The castle of Fosdinovo
The castle of Fosdinovo, located on the border between Tuscany and Liguria, witnessed the tragic story of a girl from a noble family who fell in love with a laborer.
Bianca Maria Aloisia, a member of the Malaspina family, lived in the castle during the mid-fifteenth century and fell madly in love with a beautiful apprentice: unfortunately she had been promised to a powerful knight. The young woman begged her father to let her marry his love who, in response, sent her to a nearby convent: here, however, Bianca continued to meet her lover in secret, until she became pregnant. The young man was tortured and killed and Bianca was tortured in turn: refusing to apologize, she was further martyred and, in the end, walled up in a room and left to die. Since then, screams of terror and visions of women walking in the night in Fosdinovo are very frequent.
Medici Villa Cerreto guidi
This is one of the most haunted places in Tuscany: the Medici villa in Cerreto Guidi, like many others (here the link to the post of the Medici villas that at the moment is not yet online), was created by order of Cosimo de 'Medici. The history of this magnificent place is closely linked to the legend of Isabella de' Medici, one of Cosimo's daughters. In 1576 the wonderful Isabella was killed in cold blood by her husband Paolo Orsini and, according to legend, her ghost still wanders within these walls in search of peace.
The witches of Volterra
According to legend, Volterra was the place where all the most important witches of Italy met, and here it is even said that the first witch ever existed, Aradia, was born.
Over time, Saturday evening was chosen as a moment of meeting outside the city at the Masso Della mandringa, a titanic massif under which even today you can find one of the cleanest and clearest spring sources: here took place sabbaths, orgiastic rites and celebrations to the prince of darkness, Satan.
Intrigued by these mythologies and spooky stories?
Image sources: tuscany people, countriesoftuscany.toscana, wikiwand, tuscany treasure, tripadvisor