The Natural Park of the Aurunci Mountains holds the almost unknown horror story of the which Juanna. Let us discover her frightful secrets in these Halloween days!
In the karst area of Mount Petrella in the Aurunci Mountains, dolinas are often to be found. Because of land subsidence, the smallest ones turn into sinkholes, whereas the largest ones remain veritable clearings.
Fossa Juanna – photo by Parco Monti Aurunci
These desolate depressions have inspired macabre legends, such as the story of the Fossa Juanna, also called “The Witches’ Pit”, a 100-metre diameter sinkhole at 1300 metres of altitude at the foot of Mount Petrella, in the Municipality of Spigno Saturnia, which seems swallowed by the surrounding high beech forests.
It is said that a certain Juanna, or Joanna, remembered as a loose woman or a witch, inhabited this place. Tied to a tree and burned alive, she suffered a horrible death at the hands of the bandits, whose lair in the Aurunci Mountains she had disclosed. Juanna practiced satanic rites and spells with mysterious herbal potions. A veritable example of medicinal herb growing in the area is Rumex Acetosa, the “blood plant”, employed in medieval times to cure plague and cholera.
It is said that the ghost of the old witch Joanna is glimpsed the night before the Feast of San Giovanni, and the morning after, the mysterious, still-burning ashes of a large bonfire can be found on the ground. This legend is related to St. John’s wort (Hypericum), the main ingredient of an infusion prepared on June 23 at sunset, which will chase the evil spirits away. Even today, on the night of San Giovanni, the propitiatory rite of the marriage between the sun and the moon, respectively symbolized by the bonfires and the infusion water, is celebrated. The Night of the Witches therefore became, over the centuries, the Night of San Giovanni and the women expert of herbs, who were considered sorceresses, regained their reputation as healers.
Even today, the shepherds never leave their horses graze at night in the Fossa Juanna; those who dared to do so found the animals sweaty and with braided manes and tails in the morning. Someone even claimed to have found nearby seven dead mice, their tails being tied together, a natural phenomenon, but associated with witchcraft and nocturnal Sabbaths.
A view of the Golfo Gaeta from Mount Petrella – www.parchilazio.it
Fossa Juanna is reachable through the 8.5 km CAI Path 968 Biviano – Monte Petrella, signposted and quite challenging, which covers a stretch from 394 to 1535 metres of altitude. The trail starts above the village of Spigno Saturnia Superiore and reaches the summit of Mount Petrella, the highest peak of the Aurunci Mountains.
Fossa Juanna in the Parco dei Monti Aurunci – photo by Parco Monti Aurunci
From Biviano to Sella di Monte Strampaduro, the landscape is enhanced by Mediterranean scrub, downy oak woods, maples, and blankets of wild herbs. After crossing the beech forest, we arrive to Fossa Juanna, the most impressive sinkhole of the Aurunci Mountains, and, continuing towards the Valletta delle Campetelle, we reach Mount Petrella. From here, a magnificent 360° view extends to the Pontine Islands, the Circeo Promontory, the Lepini, Simbruini and Ernici Mountains, the Mainarde and the Matese Mountains. Even the Vesuvius and the Islands of the Gulf of Naples are visible in the distance.
Here ends our tour, a perfect Halloween itinerary!