I’ve already told you about some legends related to treasures: some of them have been hidden and found, others have been snatched by foreigners, but the one I’m talking about today has a supernatural and mysterious origin.
Near the bridge located at the confluence of the creeks Germanasca di Prali and Germanasca di Massello, in Germanasca valley, there is an escarpment where a huge number of various-sided rocks form natural ravines. It’s told that sometimes, next to the road that from the bridge ascends to Maniglia, it was possible to spot a man dressed in white, wearing a stovepipe hat of the same colour. One day, somebody saw him sat on a rock reading the newspaper, and looking him up and down noted that he had a strange goat-like beard and above all a couple of branched hoof. Yes, he was the Devil in person!
This unsettling presence could explain the strange events which were taiìking place near that escarpment. Who used to pass by there, said that it wasn’t unusual to see white sheets hanged out in the sun covered with dried beech leaves. Nobody knew who hanged them and the reason of the use of the leaves. When somebody, who was curious because the fact was so bizarre, tried to go closer and see better, everything disappeared in a flash.
A day, some boys who wanted to play a joke on the Devil, ran to the hanged sheets and started to jump on the dried leaves to squash them. As usual, everything disappeared in a flash and the boys ran away. One of them started to feel something strange in the shoe, and so decided to pull it out, and with great surprise discovered that it wasn’t a simple rock, but a gold coin! It’s told that often the Devil’s coins are enchanted and disguised, but when they touch the wool they show their real appearence.
A local woman, who was picking some straw in the same area, found a nice jug full of dried leaved. She wanted to take it home, and so emptied it. But what fell from the jug weren’t leaves, but a cascade of ringing golden coins. The problem is that when the coins touched the ground, they disappeared.
I’ve told you everything I know about this enchanted place and about the ways to preserve the Devil’s coins: now it’s your turn to go and search for such a treasure!
How to get here:
From Pinerolo follow the directions to Villar Perosa, then turn left and go towards Val Germanasca and Prali. Follow the Strada Provinciale 169 and pass through the centre of Perrero. At a certain point the road turns left on a bridge, followed by the fork between Prali and Massello. Before crossing the bridge you’ll find a road on the right which ascends to Maniglia. Take it and after 100 meters you’ll spot, on your left, the rocks which are the setting of this story.
Do you want to read the tale in Italian ?