Small village in Val Formazza, in Piedmont, Croveo is full of legends.
Croveo is a small village, a hamlet of the municipality of Baceno, in the Antigorio Valley and Formazza, deeply marked by the inquisition and linked to several legends that over the centuries have created a halo of mystery around this place, which today we can visit thanks to its beautiful marbles called the Devil.
Croveo today is a small village that is visited especially for its Marmitte, but it is also interesting the aspect related to popular beliefs. There are at least two legends linked to this place that are worth knowing if you want to fully experience the atmosphere of this place: one concerns a mysterious figure that would frighten children too curious, the other, the one on the presence of two huge boulders on the Devero river. There would also be a third story, but this more than a legend is a reality linked to the Inquisition.
Croveo is a place full of mysteries and legends that are handed down from father to son. And one close to children is the one that concerns his famous bridge. A story perhaps born to instill in children a sense of fear and prudence when you arrive in dangerous places. The legend tells of an evil entity, called the “rampign”, a figure capable of dragging anyone who gets too far beyond the parapet of the bridge into the abyss. This entity would suddenly grasp the reckless with its hook, the rampign, in the local dialect, dragging it into the depths below.
It is a popular story, but it is also a warning to keep the attention and above all the caution when you get around on this bridge that crosses the gorge where you can admire the underlying torrent Devero.
The second local legend is the one that was published in the magazine “L’Ossola” between 1898 and 1899 written by Ottorino Leoni. It tells of one people, Lucia, a local girl and Michele, a stranger who had settled in Croveo to be a miller and build a mill on the Devero. The two loved each other, but their love was opposed by Domenico, the father of the young woman who felt abandoned by the girl.
He made a pact with the devil for revenge, even if he immediately repented of the thing. And to remedy it sought help in an old hermit who lived in a cave just above the river. As the hermit begged the devil, she appeared on the top of the mountain, beginning to throw stones with the intent to kill the two lovers and destroy the mill. Lucifer did not succeed in his intent. Having ceased the danger, Domenico understood the mistake, embraced the two young men and gave consent to marry with his blessing.
All was well until the death of the hermit. It was at this time that the devil wanted to take revenge, trying to obstruct the river bed to block the water and drown the miters. This intent also failed. The two boulders thrown by the devil were wet, as we see them today.
According to legend, the cause of the plague that struck the Ossola Valley was caused by a tail butt of the Devil that ended up in the waters of the Devero, then in those of Toce, Ticino and the entire Po.
The third, and it is not a legend, concerns the cruelty of the inquisitory friars who struck heavily here, bringing terror and death to the so-called “heretical” people. We are in the period of the Council of Trent, convened in response to Luther’s theses and the reform of the Catholic Church to increase faith in the most isolated regions such as the Formazza valley. The new directives issued by the clergy emanated had heavy consequences for this area.
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