Triora

Orange Flag of the Italian Touring Club

At the foot of Mount Trono, overlooking the Argentina valley, is the ancient medieval village of Triora, famous for the witch trials held here between 1587 and 1589, when six women were sentenced to death.

In the historic centre, with the characteristic narrow alleys or "carugi" and the houses leaning against each other, you'll find the Ethnographic and Witchcraft Museum, which reconstructs the rural life of past centuries and contains a collection about the late 16th-century witch hunts, torture implements and rare documents. Also worth visiting are the Collegiate Church of the Assumption, the Oratory of St John the Baptist with its fine wooden altar and notable paintings, the frescoes in the Church of St Bernardine and the ruins of the Church of St Catherine of Alexandria.

One of the more unusual attractions here is the Cabotina, which according to legend was where the bàgiue (witches) would meet to exchange infants in swaddling clothes with fellow witches from nearby villages. The local culinary speciality to try is Triora bread.