Teh One Who Knocks
05-13-2020, 10:46 AM
By Jane Lavender, Assistant Editor - The Mirror
https://i.imgur.com/54a0RxP.jpg
Nestled in the southern hills of Italy, Colobraro looks like the picture perfect quaint village.
But this stunning town hides a disturbing secret so terrifying locals will never utter the name of the place they live.
Colobraro is said to be cursed, with horrifying examples of ill fortune and bad luck befalling those within its walls.
The legend of the curse dates back to the 1940s when the then mayor of Colobraro, Biagio Virgilio, is said to have proclaimed at a town council meeting "may this chandelier fall down if I’m not telling the truth".
Seconds later the huge chandelier above his head crashed to the ground and since then locals have believed he put a chilling hex on their home town.
https://i.imgur.com/S3lmIy3.jpg
Ever since villagers have believed in the curse - and since that fateful day a number of unexplained tragedies have befallen those affected.
So fiercely do locals fear the curse, they refuse to ever describe the town by its name - and instead refer to it only as the 'village with no name'.
And the village's infamy has spread far and wide - one local admits that when he was in a restaurant in a nearby city, people moved away from him when they realised he was from Colobraro.
The village's name itself is said to have a horrifying origin. It comes from the word coluber, which means 'snakes' and some locals say it is a place where "evil presences live".
Not only that, but Colobraro has long been rumoured to be the ancient home of masciare, or powerful women who worked their magic using spells, the evil eye and curses.
https://i.imgur.com/XgERzzT.jpg
They were often treated as healers, with their neighbours going to them when they had certain symptoms, like a headache, and asking them to lift the curse.
Some of them could work the cures, which further spread the rumours about their dark magic and powers.
They used a mix of salt, coal and water and would rub it on the affected person's forehead before throwing the contaminated water on a crossroads.
The next person said to walk across the crossroads was then believed to be infected by the curse.
While the masciare are said to no longer exist - or live in the village - many fear their powers are still present.
https://i.imgur.com/SJO6UB9.jpg
And it's only a few brave souls who will talk about these woman within Colobraro, and even less when there is no sunlight shining down on the village.
There are also stories of strange things happening to those in the village, which seem to be impossible to be explained by medicine or magic.
There are, unconfirmed, reports of babies being born with two hearts or three lungs.
Freakish landslides and bizarre car accidents are also said to plague Colobraro - but the curse doesn't affect everyone.
Only visitors to the village are believed to be prone to suffering the terrible consquences of Colobraro's bad luck.
https://i.imgur.com/JxF5VWp.jpg
Local Elena di Napoli said: "Of course, considering my ancestry I am immune to the jinx.
"These spooky things only happen to people who come here for the first time in their lives and who believe in the omen."
Other dismiss the curse as nothing but hocus pocus nonsense and insist the chandelier fell at Biagio Virgilio's words because it was badly fitted.
Local Matteo told the BBC: "Don Biagio Virgilio? Of course, I do remember him! The misfortune? Folks made it up. He didn't bring bad luck.
"When something happens to some outsider with their cars, maybe they get stranded or a flat tyre or the engine breaks down, they blame it on the village."
However, that doesn't stop the resients of Colobraro capitalising on the rumours of the curse.
Every year they hold a street show to celebrate their home town's spook history and in August visitors flock to Colobraro to see the show featuring witches, masciare and werewolves.
Although - just to be on the safe side - everyone who doesn't call Colobraro home is given a special amulet to protect them from the curse.
https://i.imgur.com/54a0RxP.jpg
Nestled in the southern hills of Italy, Colobraro looks like the picture perfect quaint village.
But this stunning town hides a disturbing secret so terrifying locals will never utter the name of the place they live.
Colobraro is said to be cursed, with horrifying examples of ill fortune and bad luck befalling those within its walls.
The legend of the curse dates back to the 1940s when the then mayor of Colobraro, Biagio Virgilio, is said to have proclaimed at a town council meeting "may this chandelier fall down if I’m not telling the truth".
Seconds later the huge chandelier above his head crashed to the ground and since then locals have believed he put a chilling hex on their home town.
https://i.imgur.com/S3lmIy3.jpg
Ever since villagers have believed in the curse - and since that fateful day a number of unexplained tragedies have befallen those affected.
So fiercely do locals fear the curse, they refuse to ever describe the town by its name - and instead refer to it only as the 'village with no name'.
And the village's infamy has spread far and wide - one local admits that when he was in a restaurant in a nearby city, people moved away from him when they realised he was from Colobraro.
The village's name itself is said to have a horrifying origin. It comes from the word coluber, which means 'snakes' and some locals say it is a place where "evil presences live".
Not only that, but Colobraro has long been rumoured to be the ancient home of masciare, or powerful women who worked their magic using spells, the evil eye and curses.
https://i.imgur.com/XgERzzT.jpg
They were often treated as healers, with their neighbours going to them when they had certain symptoms, like a headache, and asking them to lift the curse.
Some of them could work the cures, which further spread the rumours about their dark magic and powers.
They used a mix of salt, coal and water and would rub it on the affected person's forehead before throwing the contaminated water on a crossroads.
The next person said to walk across the crossroads was then believed to be infected by the curse.
While the masciare are said to no longer exist - or live in the village - many fear their powers are still present.
https://i.imgur.com/SJO6UB9.jpg
And it's only a few brave souls who will talk about these woman within Colobraro, and even less when there is no sunlight shining down on the village.
There are also stories of strange things happening to those in the village, which seem to be impossible to be explained by medicine or magic.
There are, unconfirmed, reports of babies being born with two hearts or three lungs.
Freakish landslides and bizarre car accidents are also said to plague Colobraro - but the curse doesn't affect everyone.
Only visitors to the village are believed to be prone to suffering the terrible consquences of Colobraro's bad luck.
https://i.imgur.com/JxF5VWp.jpg
Local Elena di Napoli said: "Of course, considering my ancestry I am immune to the jinx.
"These spooky things only happen to people who come here for the first time in their lives and who believe in the omen."
Other dismiss the curse as nothing but hocus pocus nonsense and insist the chandelier fell at Biagio Virgilio's words because it was badly fitted.
Local Matteo told the BBC: "Don Biagio Virgilio? Of course, I do remember him! The misfortune? Folks made it up. He didn't bring bad luck.
"When something happens to some outsider with their cars, maybe they get stranded or a flat tyre or the engine breaks down, they blame it on the village."
However, that doesn't stop the resients of Colobraro capitalising on the rumours of the curse.
Every year they hold a street show to celebrate their home town's spook history and in August visitors flock to Colobraro to see the show featuring witches, masciare and werewolves.
Although - just to be on the safe side - everyone who doesn't call Colobraro home is given a special amulet to protect them from the curse.