On 6/21/1375 Guendalina Malatesta plays with a ball of rags, a scream and the girl disappears. Thus was born the legend of Azzurrina

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I do not know if I have ever told you that I have lived many lives, probably also helped by the many removals and changes of residence due to the itinerant work of her husband, who by profession is a 5-a-side football coach in Serie A. With the family we lived in Tuscany for many years, then we moved to Romagna, a stone’s throw from Cesenatico and Cesena, to end up in Veneto for almost ten years now, where I still live now. It was precisely in my Romagna phase that I decided to pursue a career as a journalist, thanks to an editor-in-chief who chose me at the first interview, and thanks to my innate curiosity, I practically covered every topic that could become an article.

This is how I wrote about sports, crime news, crime news, gossip and true stories, for a while then I became an expert on legends and haunted castles, also thanks to the fact of living in a geographical area with a high density of thrilling stories, and thanks to this I managed to have a column in a national weekly by organizing a tour with a photographer who could immortalize with images what then I would have been able to convey with words.

It was a success, and I became a point of reference for fans, amateurs and professionals alike. One among all Daniele Gullà, biometric and forensic expert, one of the leading experts of multispectral scientific photography, who was the first to be able to record the voice of a little girl inside a castle during the storm thanks to her sophisticated digital photographic means. Do you know what I’ve always liked about Daniele? That his was a scientific approach, that his research was aimed at unmasking beliefs, because the biopsychocybernetic theory does not believe in the existence of spirits, but believes that human consciousness is so influenced by ghosts, as to modify the surrounding environment. where anything can happen. A kind of “I don’t believe it, but let’s see how it ends.” And it is precisely in the first of their investigations on the paranormal that what has become one of the most studied and best known cases by lovers of mystery takes place, the recording that took place during the night, with the castle closed, and with the seals of a notary, of the voice of a little girl screaming the word mom (you can retrieve it here).

What I am about to tell you is one thrilling legend, a story handed down orally for three centuries, and speaks of a child who died prematurely at the age of six in the maze of a castle in the province of Rimini, the castle of Montebello, we are talking about the ghost of Azzurrina. Guendalina Malatesta, this was her real name, she was albino. The popular superstition of the time linked albinism to witchcraft, so her father had decided to always have her escorted by a couple of guards and, to protect her, he never let her leave the house alone.

Vain was also the mother’s desperate attempt to dye her hair with natural pigments, which, due to the disease, left only a blue veil in the white hair, hence the nickname of Azzurrina.

Legend has it that the June 21, 1375, on the day of the summer solstice, the little girl played in the castle with a ball of rags while a storm raged outside, at a certain point the ball rolled down into the dungeon, the little girl fell to follow her, she heard herself shout, the guards ran into the entering from the only existing entrance, but they did not find it. His body disappeared. It is said that the ghost of the little one has remained trapped in the castle and that it returns to be heard in the summer solstice of every five years, that is, every five years, and the date must end in zero or five.

Montebello Castle (press office photo)

In 1989 the castle was restored by the owners, the family of the Counts Guidi di Bagno, and opened to the public; since that moment various groups of parapsychologists have followed one another inside to capture the presence of Azzurrina, and they have succeeded, recording on tape the voice of a child, who, crying desperately, calls her mother. It was like a tears confused among the noises of a distant storm, there was no doubt that it was the voice of the missing child and at this point, intrigued, I decide to visit the castle and I must say that it is an unforgettable experience.

I arrive at the fortress which is already dark, a light fog rests on the central tower, the road is all uphill, the atmosphere is certainly suggestive.

Before entering the castle there is a courtyard with a well, in front of me one chest, the guide explains that it was brought there by the Crusades, painted by Red. The color has never faded, so much so that many thought it was real blood: it depicts a pregnant woman inside a tent. It was used by the tribes for demographic control, when the set number of newborns was reached, pregnant women were tied with their legs crossed over this chest and made to die of labor together with the unborn child. In the same room, where this object is located, the caretaker, one evening, heard some noises and, when he turned around, he saw a barefoot woman walking on the ceiling, she was upside down and her long hair brushed the floor. Even today you can see the woman’s footprints that have remained indelible on the ceiling: only now years later they begin to fade.

We arrive in the entrance hall, where the little girl is said to have disappeared, the effect is impressive, there is a flight of stairs that leads to this renovated room and above a painting painted in blue and illuminated in the same color stands out: Azzurrina is there looking at us, the guide turns on the recorder and you hear the cry of a child in the storm. Then the sound of the ball bouncing down the stairs, the tolling of the bells, the voice of a little girl calling “Mom”.

Fantasy, reality or just suggestion? I leave the answer to you.

The castle of Montebello awaits you and Azzurrina, with a little luck, could welcome you on the flight of stairs. No entry for the faint of heart.