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Legends
and fables of the Adriatic sea
…Legend
has that Scirocco, Bora and their children lived in a far away land:
Illiria. Velebit had dark curly hair and the beautiful Adria was slim and
had beautiful blue eyes and golden hair. Once Scirocco, longing for
knowing new worlds, decided to leave to come back only after seven long
years. While he was approaching his land again he was imprisoned by a
wicked wizard. He wanted to kidnap the beautiful Adria because he was
madly in love with her. So one night the wizard went to submit the
inhabitants of Illiria. Velebit didn’t want to surrender though. So he
prayed the Gods to turn him into a stone. So the mountains that protect
North Dalmatia originated. The sweet and lovely Adria was turned into sea…
the Adriatic sea.
The
legend so explains the origin of the Adriatic sea. Its name is in fact
given to the Venetian city of Adria. It was a famous Etruscan harbour (VIII
century B.C.). The harbour passed then under the control of the Ancient
Greeks and then to the Gallic population that also founded the city of
Senigallia. The harbour was so important due to its strategic position
both for trading and commercial purposes. The Romans held the control of
the city that then passed over to the Byzantine empire.
The
magic of legends is what captures us more. So lets tell some other stories
connected with spots of Le Marche.
Le Due Sorelle
in the Ancona district have always inspired legends. The most peculiar one
says that the two stones emerging from the sea have in fact been
originated by a spell that turned into stone and cut in halves a maritime
evil being. Its alley was a wicked mermaid who charmed seamen with her
voice and then trapped them in a cave, now called Grotta degli Schiavi (cave of the slaves). An other legend told
about the cave has that pirates imprisoned there their prisoners. Once it
happened to be imprisoned there a beautiful Venetian princess. She was so
scattered that cried so much that from her tears sprang a river that still
flows into the Adriatic Sea (a different version has that herself melted
into tears).
The
Conero coastline is crowded with rocks emerging from the sea. Their
peculiar shapes are explained by various stories. L’Emerso
(The Emerged) is a conic shaped rock that seems to have emerged from the
sea one night without any apparent explanation. Il
Trave (The Beam) is a rock that stretches for one km. It is told to
have been once a bridge that linked the two lands.
San
Benedetto del Tronto
has a special bound with the Adriatic Sea. The city has based its economy
on the sea. San Benedetto was a Catholic martyr that was beheaded and
thrown into the sea. It was found at the Ambula river mouth. The corpse
was intact. The city of Truentum was so called after him.
How
did Adria story end?
Adria
was threatened by the wicked wizard. She was warried and the waters stormy.
So Bora, her mother, turned herself into an impetuous wind, blew on the
sea to protect her. Scirocco, that in the meantime, had turned into wind
as well, blew on the land and defeated the wizard. The waters calmed, the
winds stopped blowing and the coastline bloomed again.
© 2005
Liberation Ventures Ltd.
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