A Valmarecchia valley legend handed down from generation to generation, as told by Marta Bonaccini
During the Middle Ages, the Counts of Montedoglio and Chiusi were feudal lords of Badia Tedalda, and although they rented the castle on a perpetual lease to the religious orders, every once in a while the lords came to visit and the monks always kept a few rooms free on the estate for their stay. When the lords came to visit, they would always hold celebrations where they would invite the local squires from neighbouring estates and castles.
It was during one of these occasions that the young Manfredi Count of Montedoglio met Rosalia, daughter of the Lord and Podestà, or Chief Magistrate in English, of Colcellalto. Upon meeting, the young damsel and the young gentleman fell madly in love. Naturally though, the Montedoglio family did not approve of their love. With their strict noble status, they were appalled and would never allow that one of their kin marry a pseudo-noble country girl. Despite the fact that she was indeed, actually, of nobility, today the only trace left behind of her existence is her name in this legend.
Of course, after their first meeting, the visits from the young count became ever more frequent, using the excuse that he was going to visit the Badia Tedalda estate. Under this guise, he would instead visit his darling love in Colcellalto. At twilight, when the full moon would reign, the two lovers would whisper sweet nothings to one another as all lovers do. Rosalia would say “Sir, if one could wish for whatever one desired, when the moon seems to rest upon the alp, one’s wishes would surely be granted”. Legend had it that the Alpe della Luna massif was filled with treasures at its summit, however to find these treasures meant scaling the mountain and touching the moon, and he who ever dared to attempt reaching the top would never touch it, for the mountain belonged to the moon itself and would kill whoever attempted approaching it.
(Writer’s note: It is said that back in those days, the bandits that would rob passersby and travelling stage coaches that would journey along these roads from Sansepolcro towards Romagna, Bocca Trabaria and Umbria, would hide their booty in the forests on the mountain in their hideouts, and he who dared approach these so-called “secret treasure coves” would surely have been killed.)
The young girl spoke so fondly and so much of the mysterious hidden treasures on Alpe della Luna that, despite his superstition which was common for all at the time, it occurred to the young man that he should scale the mountain the attempt of touching the moon and taking ahold of the incredible treasure. And so, one beautiful morning in May, the young count told Rosalia, “I am going to the mountain top to touch the moon and bring back the treasure. When I come back we shall be so rich that no one can stop us from getting married.” In addition to being endowed with great beauty, the damsel was also very brave and was determined to accompany her love on his adventure. Their family’s prayers or their fathers’ threats would not stop them; the couple saddled up two horses and took off towards the mountain only to never return.
A few centuries ago, charcoal burners and lumberjacks who had built their cabins in the woods near the mountain, would say that during the full moon you could still hear the galloping of the lovers’ two horses and see their shadows nearby, arms outstretched in a desperate attempt to touch the moon. Even the citizens of the surrounding towns of Barucola, Val di Brucia valley, Monterano and Monte Viale had long upheld that by the light of the full moon you could see the two lovers embrace. So, despite being a product of popular fiction and fantasy, legends always carry a grain of truth to them about the places in which they took place, giving listeners and readers a glimpse into the mystery and magic that molded many a generation.