The White Lady, the dragon of Levico and other tales.
The story of the White Lady (la Dama Bianca) is one of the most famous legends of Valsugana, a tale blending beauty, sorrow and a deep longing for release. The legend reaches beyond the allure of ancient stones and makes Castel Pergine more than a mere historic site, turning it into a place of magic, a doorway to a past rich in emotions and stories that still echo within its walls.
The legend tells of a woman mistreated by a tyrannical lord of the castle, who is said to have thrown herself from a window to claim her freedom, embracing death as the only escape from her captivity, and appearing thereafter as a vengeful spirit wandering the rooms on nights of full moon, with the shadow of a white dress and a melancholy song of freedom.
Although no canonical artistic depictions are devoted specifically to her figure, the spirit of the White Lady is evoked and described in various ways in folk tales and during events such as the Medieval Festivals: as a luminous presence, a sorrowful lament, and in her endless search for peace within the castle walls.
An air of mystery has surrounded the Magnifica Corte of Caldonazzo for centuries. On the darkest nights, when no moon lights the sky, shadows of knights bearing lit torches are said to appear: they are the restless spirits of the soldiers of Siccone II, fallen in battle against the Vicentines in 1385. They are searching for the “keys of Paradise”, the only way to find eternal peace.
Their lord, Siccone II of Caldonazzo, is remembered as a cruel and violent man, feared by his subjects. Old and by then ill, he withdrew to his castle, where he died without confessing his sins. Popular tradition holds that ever since, his ghost has wandered restlessly around the walls, condemned to atone for his guilt.
Between history and legend, the figure of Siccone II remains one of the darkest and most compelling of the Trentino Middle Ages.
It is said that a dragon lives in the waters of Lake Levico. The legend tells that in the sixteenth century the town was threatened by this creature, which demanded animal sacrifices and threatened to claim human victims as well.
To free the population came the knight Jaques de Laselva, a valiant warrior in shining armour on a white steed. Facing the dragon as it rose from the water, he did not kill it, but defeated it with the power of the word and of Faith: he condemned it never again to feed on human flesh and to live peacefully in the waters of the lake.
To seal his feat, the knight struck the ground with his lance and made a stream spring forth, which to this day waters the valley and keeps it fertile. Then, refusing any reward, he vanished into the mist, leaving the inhabitants the memory of an act of courage and generosity.
It is said that once, where the waters of Lake Caldonazzo now lie, there stood two villages: Susa and Caldòn. Their inhabitants, wealthy and proud, went so far as to forbid even charity towards the poor.
One day a hungry wayfarer asked for shelter: everyone turned him away except a widow and her son. Before leaving, he warned them: «Stay indoors, whatever happens tonight.» At sunset, an endless deluge submerged houses and fields, wiping out the two villages. In the morning, in their place, a vast lake glittered; only the widow’s cottage was spared, resting on the shore: it was the first dwelling of the new Lake Caldonazzo.
The name of the village of Calceranica is traced back to a popular anecdote: a man, asked what he was carrying in a stocking — calza in Italian — answered “frogs”, rane. Hence Calza-ran-ega, “a stocking of frogs”.
The White Lady, the dragon of Levico and other tales.
The story of the White Lady (la Dama Bianca) is one of the most famous legends of Valsugana, a tale blending beauty, sorrow and a deep longing for release. The legend reaches beyond the allure of ancient stones and makes Castel Pergine more than a mere historic site, turning it into a place of magic, a doorway to a past rich in emotions and stories that still echo within its walls.
The legend tells of a woman mistreated by a tyrannical lord of the castle, who is said to have thrown herself from a window to claim her freedom, embracing death as the only escape from her captivity, and appearing thereafter as a vengeful spirit wandering the rooms on nights of full moon, with the shadow of a white dress and a melancholy song of freedom.
Although no canonical artistic depictions are devoted specifically to her figure, the spirit of the White Lady is evoked and described in various ways in folk tales and during events such as the Medieval Festivals: as a luminous presence, a sorrowful lament, and in her endless search for peace within the castle walls.
An air of mystery has surrounded the Magnifica Corte of Caldonazzo for centuries. On the darkest nights, when no moon lights the sky, shadows of knights bearing lit torches are said to appear: they are the restless spirits of the soldiers of Siccone II, fallen in battle against the Vicentines in 1385. They are searching for the “keys of Paradise”, the only way to find eternal peace.
Their lord, Siccone II of Caldonazzo, is remembered as a cruel and violent man, feared by his subjects. Old and by then ill, he withdrew to his castle, where he died without confessing his sins. Popular tradition holds that ever since, his ghost has wandered restlessly around the walls, condemned to atone for his guilt.
Between history and legend, the figure of Siccone II remains one of the darkest and most compelling of the Trentino Middle Ages.
It is said that a dragon lives in the waters of Lake Levico. The legend tells that in the sixteenth century the town was threatened by this creature, which demanded animal sacrifices and threatened to claim human victims as well.
To free the population came the knight Jaques de Laselva, a valiant warrior in shining armour on a white steed. Facing the dragon as it rose from the water, he did not kill it, but defeated it with the power of the word and of Faith: he condemned it never again to feed on human flesh and to live peacefully in the waters of the lake.
To seal his feat, the knight struck the ground with his lance and made a stream spring forth, which to this day waters the valley and keeps it fertile. Then, refusing any reward, he vanished into the mist, leaving the inhabitants the memory of an act of courage and generosity.
It is said that once, where the waters of Lake Caldonazzo now lie, there stood two villages: Susa and Caldòn. Their inhabitants, wealthy and proud, went so far as to forbid even charity towards the poor.
One day a hungry wayfarer asked for shelter: everyone turned him away except a widow and her son. Before leaving, he warned them: «Stay indoors, whatever happens tonight.» At sunset, an endless deluge submerged houses and fields, wiping out the two villages. In the morning, in their place, a vast lake glittered; only the widow’s cottage was spared, resting on the shore: it was the first dwelling of the new Lake Caldonazzo.
The name of the village of Calceranica is traced back to a popular anecdote: a man, asked what he was carrying in a stocking — calza in Italian — answered “frogs”, rane. Hence Calza-ran-ega, “a stocking of frogs”.