Masca Micilina Trail

The Masca Micilina Trail has been tracked to let visitors get to know popular tales and traditions from Rocche villages over the last century – tales of Masche (Piedmont dialect for witches) who lived in this inaccessible place, abounding in traps, and shrouded in mysterious.

Micilina, i.e. Michelina, was a girl from Barolo who married a peasant from Pocapaglia. She was short and deformed, her face was dark, with thin white and messed up hair, her nose was hooked, she was toothless, cross-eyed and used to walk slowly, hunchbacked. Weird things used to happen when she walked in the village. Her husband used to hit her all day long. When he was looking for her, she used to hide herself. For this reason, he began to say he had not married a woman but a masca, i.e., a witch, who managed to suddenly slip away from him and to reappear when least expected. These strange events are told in a book about these strange from 1700, which is preserved at Museo di Palazzo Traversa in Bra. It is told Micilina was processed by the Inquisition. The Inquisition Court was located in Savigliano. An Inquisitor was sent, together with the Cherasco court judge to get details about her. It is told Micilina confessed and provided for the names of several witches, mostly from Barolo, and she was condemned. Firstly, she was hanged, to prevent her soul from leaving her body, then she was burnt and her remains scattered among the Rocche in Pocapaglia. And there – as she promised – she took on a catlike or he–goat appearance. The Bric d’la Masca Micilina still stands to remember her and her story.

To hike along the trail, a specific gps track is available as well as a map, to be downloaded from the Ecomuseo delle Rocche website. Several landslips have occurred over the years so the original trail has been modified to keep the path safe for local people and visitors as well.

TRAIL AUDIO GUIDE: to make use of the audio guide with integrated gpx track, you can download the free app Izi.Travel on your smartphone and activate the geolocation: in this way an automatic narration will be activated in the points of interest telling stories and curiosities.
Audio guide pre-viewable also on browser by clicking here.