Hi kids!
D’you want to know one of the things I like most of the Waldensian valleys which I come from? …well, you should always keep your eyes open ‘cause things are not always as they appear at first sight… Today for example we are in Villar Perosa, in a location known as Cascina Grossa, and what may seem just like the wall of an old house in fact hides a mysterious story…
Nowadays the fresco that was painted on this wall is ruined and not very clear to see, but I was told that it depicted the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus and the Saints Peter and Anthony. So far, nothing unusual. But it seems that at their feet a large pig (referring to witches) was drawn…
It is said that in the past in this place many mysterious deaths occurred, but the responsible for those strange events always managed to escape without a trace …the only thing that would link the facts to each other was a big pig that many times was seen away in the woods shortly after this strange deaths.
Authorities investigated but never found the guilty person!
It was finally suggested that the pig could be a sorcerer so one night he was hit with a golden bullet… The mysterious deaths stopped and the animal was never seen again, but the strangeness of the story made people decide to remember that story in this painting that has been known since that moment as “the tiny pig’s Virgin Mary”.
How to get here:
reach the central Square of Centenario in Villar Perosa following the signs to the town hall. Take Gioberti street on your right (which will become Primo Laurenti street) and in 250 meters you will find the fresco on a building on your right.
Do you want to read the tale in Italian ?