What is Triora known for?

Between 1587 and 1589 around 200 women were tried by the Inquisition here, one of the largest witch hunts in Italy. Slow-rising rustic loaf baked in wood-fired ovens, with a thick crust that keeps the bread good for two weeks. Wolves, chamois, and golden eagles range the ridges above Triora, the upper Argentina valley reaching Monte Saccarello at 2,200 meters.

Triora is a comune in the province of Imperia, Liguria region of Italy, about 158 kilometers from Genova.

Liguria · Imperia

Triora

The witches' village at 776 meters in the upper Valle Argentina, where the Inquisition put around 200 women on trial between 1587 and 1589.

776m

Elevation

158 km / 98 mi

Nearest hub (Genova)

373

Population

May–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Triora sits at 776 meters in the upper Valle Argentina, the last comune before the Alpi Liguri turn into French territory. The site was a Genovese stronghold from the thirteenth century, fortified with five castles, three of which still leave traces. Between 1587 and 1589, after two years of failed harvests and famine, the council of elders blamed a group of women living in seclusion in La Cabotina, the poorest quarter, and called in the Inquisition. Around 200 women were accused, many tortured, some died in custody. Genova intervened to slow the trials; the survivors were eventually freed. The Museo Etnografico e della Stregoneria, in the former prison, holds the documents and reconstructs the herbalism, the famine, and the trial process. The Pane di Triora is a slow-rising rustic bread baked in wood ovens that keeps for two weeks. Wolves and chamois return to the surrounding ridges.

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Gallery

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Known for

Museo Etnografico e della Stregoneria
Witchcraft and ethnography museum in the former village prison, with trial documents, herbal knowledge, and a reconstruction of La Cabotina.
La Cabotina
The poorest quarter at the edge of the village, where the women accused of witchcraft in 1587-1589 lived, now a marked walking circuit.
Collegiata di Nostra Signora Assunta
Parish church with a fourteenth-century Baptism of Christ by Taddeo di Bartolo, the oldest dated work in Liguria.
Ruderi del Castello
Surviving fragments of the medieval Genovese castle on the high point of the village, with views into the upper Argentina valley.
Monte Saccarello
At 2,200 meters, the highest peak of Liguria, on the ridge above Triora that marks the French border.

When to visit

Best months · May–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through October are the months Triora is fully open. The Argentina valley greens in spring and holds color into autumn. The witchcraft museum, the Cabotina circuit, and the Saccarello trails are accessible from late spring through early autumn. July and August are bearable thanks to the elevation, with temperatures rarely passing the high twenties even in heat waves. November through April is hard: snow on the ridges, fog in the valley, many restaurants closed, the road from Badalucco subject to ice. Hikers in winter find an empty village and a colder version of the same view.