A reasoned map
Italy
57 entries of Italian folklore, placed where they were actually collected. Search by name or by dialect variant, or filter by region and cultural area. Every entry declares its own grade of documentation.
Region
Cultural area
ABadaliscLombardy — Andrista di Cevo, upper Val Camonica (province of Brescia)AAnguanethe Veneto, Trentino-South Tyrol, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy — Venetian and Trentino Prealps, from Val Camonica to the Slovenian borderAOm salvàrechTrentino-South Tyrol, Lombardy, Piedmont, the Aosta Valley — The whole Alpine arc, greatest density in Trentino and ValtellinaBRegno dei FanesTrentino-South Tyrol — Alpe di Fanes, Marebbe (province of Bolzano), and the Ladin DolomitesAVecia Redosegathe Veneto — Valbelluna, Cadore, Agordino; German-speaking Alpine areaCGigiàtLombardy — Val Masino (province of Sondrio), with extensions into Valchiavenna and BregagliaAMascaPiedmont — Langhe, Roero, Monferrato, Canavese, Cuneo valleysABordaEmilia-Romagna, Lombardy — The Emilian and Romagnol lowlands, extending into the Lombard plainAMazapégulEmilia-Romagna — Romagna: Forlì-Cesena, Ravenna, Rimini, with an Apennine coreCFojoncoEmilia-Romagna — Apennines between the Secchia and the Panaro, provinces of Reggio Emilia and ModenaALinchettoTuscany — Lucchesia, Versilia, GarfagnanaABuffardelloTuscany, Liguria — Val di Serchio, Garfagnana, Versilia, LunigianaAMazzamurellothe Marche, Abruzzo, Umbria — Monti Sibillini and inland Abruzzo, with a diffusion reaching as far as SardiniaAPantaficaAbruzzo, the Marche — Inland Abruzzo and the Marche; the belief covers the entire peninsula under different namesALupe menareAbruzzo, Molise — Abruzzo, all four provinces, and MoliseAPantàsemaLazio, Abruzzo, the Marche — Central Apennines: Lazio, Marche, Abruzzo. Documented localities: Jenne (province of Rome), Grotti di Cittaducale (province of Rieti), Torre Cajetani (province of Frosinone), Monti CiminiBLengheloLazio — Castelli Romani: Marino, Genzano, Albano, Colli AlbaniBJanaraCampania — Benevento and the valleys of the Sabato and the Calore; Sannio and IrpiniaBMunacielloCampania — Naples and the Vesuvian areaBMonachicchioBasilicata, Calabria — Inland Basilicata and northern Calabria; strong attestation from Aliano (province of Matera)BScazzamurieddhuApulia — The whole of Puglia, with its epicentre in the Ionian-Salentine areaATarantateApulia, Basilicata — Salento, provinces of Lecce, Brindisi and Taranto; the ritual centre is the chapel of San Paolo at GalatinaADonni di foraSicily — Sicily; trials documented at Palermo, Monreale, Sciacca, Cammarata, Agrigento, MessinaBMammadragaSicily — Sicily, the Palermo area and the centre-westBJanasSardinia — The whole of Sardinia, with density in the centre-north: Logudoro, Goceano, BarbagiaBAmmuntadoreSardinia — The whole of SardiniaAMamuthonesSardinia — Mamoiada (province of Nuoro), Barbagia di OllolaiBErchituSardinia — Central Sardinia, Barbagia and the Nuoro areaAGostanza da LibbianoTuscany — San Miniato (province of Pisa), where the trial was held; the accused came from Libbiano, a hamlet of Peccioli, in the ValderaBLa Berta di Santa Maria MaggioreTuscany — Florence, church of Santa Maria Maggiore, the side on via de' Cerretani, level with the bell towerABenandantiFriuli-Venezia Giulia — Central and eastern Friuli: Cividale del Friuli, Iassico and Brazzano near Cormòns, Udine, Aquileia, Monfalcone, LatisanaBLa Sibilla appenninicathe Marche, Umbria — Monti Sibillini, Marche side, comune of Montemonaco (province of Ascoli Piceno): Monte Sibilla (2,173 m) and Lago di PilatoCI bozzi delle fateTuscany — Fiacciano, comune of Fivizzano (province of Massa-Carrara); pools on the canale dell’Albereda, a tributary of the Rosaro stream, near Pognana, in the LunigianaALe bàzure di TrioraLiguria — Triora, upper Valle Argentina (province of Imperia), Ligurian Alps; the trial involves Genoa, Albenga and the Congregation of the Holy Office in RomeBIl drago della ValnerinaUmbria — Castel San Felice, a hamlet of Sant’Anatolia di Narco (province of Perugia); abbey of Santi Felice e Mauro, on the bank of the river NeraCIl latte del Rutorthe Aosta Valley — Rutor glacier and lakes, La Thuile (province of Aosta); the ice-dammed lake known as Santa Margherita, now goneBLa spada di San GalganoTuscany — Montesiepi and the abbey of San Galgano, comune of Chiusdino (province of Siena), Val di MerseALa focarazza di Santa CaterinaTuscany — Santa Caterina, a hamlet of Roccalbegna (province of Grosseto), south-western slopes of Monte Amiata, the Grosseto hinterlandAI vattienti di Nocera TerineseCalabria — Nocera Terinese (province of Catanzaro), Tyrrhenian Calabria; related flagellation rites are attested elsewhere in the region, for example at Verbicaro (province of Cosenza)AGl’ Cierv, il Cervo di CastelnuovoMolise — Castelnuovo al Volturno, a hamlet of Rocchetta a Volturno (province of Isernia), at the foot of the MainardeBLe sorchie e la «synagogue»the Aosta Valley — The whole of the Valle d'Aosta, with a lexical line separating the upper and middle valley from the lower valley; the documented trial of 1439 is in the community of FénisAThe RificolonaTuscany — Florence, piazza della Santissima Annunziata and the streets of the centre; the evening of 7 September, eve of the Nativity of MaryAThe tregendaTuscany — Tuscany; a Florentine word attested from the fourteenth century. Pulci’s «Beca da Dicomano» places it in the MugelloAThe witches of Valcamonica, 1518-1521Lombardy — Valle Camonica (province of Brescia): Pisogne, Breno, Cemmo, Edolo, Rogno; the sabbath of the confessions is on Monte TonaleAThe witches’ night of St JohnLazio — Rome, piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano and the taverns around it; the night between 23 and 24 JuneCThe Beati PaoliSicily — Palermo, the Capo quarter: the cave beneath the Baldi house, between vicolo degli Orfani and via Beati PaoliCS’accabadoraSardinia — Inland Sardinia: Barbagia and Gallura in the nineteenth-century attestations; Luras (province of Sassari) for the mallet in the Galluras museumALa BefanaLazio, Tuscany, the Marche, Abruzzo — Rome, the rione of Sant’Eustachio and piazza Navona for the fair; Florence and the Lucchesia for the earliest attestations of the word and for the befanate begging rounds — Val di Lima, Tereglio, Casabasciana, Coreglia Antelminelli, Ponte a Moriano; the Marche and Abruzzo for the pasquella and the rites of the eve. For Umbria, Romagna and Emilia the pasquella is attested in the specialist literature, but I have not opened those collections.AThe pagliara maje majeMolise — Fossalto (province of Campobasso), Molise; the begging song is attested in almost identical form throughout Molise, the pagliara only hereAIl Pianto delle ZitelleLazio — Sanctuary of the Santissima Trinità at Vallepietra (province of Rome), on Monte Autore, on the border between Lazio and Abruzzo; the singers are from Vallepietra, the pilgrim companies come from Ciociaria and AbruzzoAThe Maggio of AccetturaBasilicata — Accettura (province of Matera), Basilicata; the maggio comes from the wood of Gallipoli Cognato, the crown from a wood at the opposite end of the municipal territoryAGiuseppe Bellucci's Umbrian amuletsUmbria — Umbria: Magione, Papiano, Montemelino, Pila, Civitella d'Arna, Collepepe di Collazzone, Passignano, Perugia, Bevagna, Gualdo Tadino–Santa Lucia, NorciaBEl Matharólthe Veneto — The Belluno mountains: the Agordino for the marks left on trees, the Cansiglio for the rhyme; the place name «Trói del Matharól»AThe basilisk of San SiroLiguria — Genoa: the well beside the church of the Ss. Apostoli, later San Siro, and the plaque at the corner of via San Siro and via di Fossatello; the beast is driven towards the seaAThe casacceLiguria — Genoa and the two rivieras; the Genoese urban rite ends with the suppression of 1811, the casse are still carried at Savona, Ovada and VarazzeBLucida MansiTuscany — Lucca: the family palace, today a national museum; Villa Mansi at Segromigno in Monte (Capannori); the city walls; and, in the most recent versions, the pond of the Botanical GardenAThe Scoppio del CarroTuscany — Florence, piazza del Duomo, between the Baptistery and the cathedral, on Easter morning; the fire sets out from the church of Santi Apostoli, in piazza del Limbo; the cart is kept in via il Prato
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How to read the grades.
A attested in historical ethnographic collections, dialect dictionaries, trial records or academic studies ·
B a real folkloric core, but collected late or known through an author's reworking ·
C findable almost only on blogs and tourist sites: I keep them and flag them, because knowing that an entry is recent is worth as much as knowing an old one.
This is the part of Atlas Noctis with the least competition in English. Sleep-paralysis spirits with seventeen dialect names, a witchcraft trial that ended in acquittal because the inquisitor overruled the local vicar, night-walkers who fought witches with fennel stalks on the Ember Days, a saga presented as ancient Ladin myth that was written in 1932. Most of it has never been set out in English with its sources attached. The Method page says how the grades are assigned, and what «I don't know» means here.