{"id":906,"date":"2020-04-27T10:38:11","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T08:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bikeandtaste.com\/?p=906"},"modified":"2020-05-19T16:25:34","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T14:25:34","slug":"volterra-the-land-of-witches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeandtaste.com\/en\/journal-en\/history-en\/volterra-the-land-of-witches\/","title":{"rendered":"Volterra, the land of witches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first image<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of Volterra as soon as you can see it from the road is that of a charming village overlooking the hills, immersed in the idyllic peace of the hinterland. But as soon as you enter the ancient city, it\u2019s not hard to see why they call it \u201cthe land of witches\u201d. Its typical narrow alleys, with eerie names \u2013 such as Chiasso delle Zingare, Vicolo degli Abbandonati, or via Vecchi Ammazzatoi \u2013 crammed between the houses, where a cold wind blows, seem to evoke croacking<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">specters from the dark. There are many legends about sorcerer<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and strange rituals, but one seems to be closer to historical reality more than others.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It seems that the first ever witch lived right here: according to the beliefs, she was called Aradia and was the daughter of the Goddess Diana, and was sent to earth by her mother to teach the arts of witchcraft to men. What makes it even more interesting is that the documents confirm there was indeed an Aradia, born in Volterra on 13 August 1313. The church condemned her to the stake and imprisoned her, but on the day of the execution her cell was mysteriously found empty. The most famous belief, however, revolves around the disturbing rumor that seems to be present to this day in the collective belief, during certain nights, around the Masso della Mandriga, a huge massif outside the walls, famous for the clear and pure water that flows from its deep rift. The stories tell that this heaven-like spring<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">turns in the night hours into a ghostly place, where on Saturdays the witches gather for macabre dances and pagan rites.\u00a0On the other hand, the stories in Volterra are certainly fueled by the mystery of the tangle of ancient houses, the sinister damp courtyards, the yellowish and soft light of street lamps and the sounds of nocturnal birds of prey, which give the surreal feeling of being at the gates of nowhere.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More recently, the village became famous because it was chosen by author Stephenie Meyer as setting of \u201cNew Moon\u201d, the second instalment in the famous and beloved \u201cTwilight\u201d<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">saga. The Volturi, the fights between vampires, and the secrets of the cramped underground crypts have helped to enhance Volterra\u2019s fascination even more in the collective imagination, making it a place with an absolutely unique charm.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first image of Volterra as soon as you can see it from the road is that of a charming&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51],"tags":[86],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Volterra, the land of witches - BikeandTaste<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeandtaste.com\/en\/journal-en\/history-en\/volterra-the-land-of-witches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Volterra, the land of witches - 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