Mountain Biking Highlight
Recommended by 43 mountain bikers
This Highlight is in a protected area
Please check local regulations for: Parco Nazionale dell'Alta Murgia
A very singular story gives the name to this site: in fact, it is said that on a winter night in 1870 Satan in person visited two shepherds who, with their flock, had stopped to rest in the jazzo.
July 31, 2023
It is a winter night in 1870 when two shepherds with their flock take refuge in the jazzo to find shelter from the cold. While they are around the fire, their dogs start barking for no reason, one after the other for at least half an hour, until the wind stops whistling.
At that moment the shepherds, wrapped in a surreal silence, are moved by a loud and repeated knock on the door. So they go to open the door and find a dilapidated traveler on the threshold, covered in a habit and a large hood. The man reports that he lost his way and was drawn there by the smoke from the fire. Despite the strange tone of voice, somewhat hoarse and difficult to understand, the two let him in to offer him shelter.
July 31, 2023
Once taken place, however, everything suddenly changes. Sitting down, the gentleman lifts his habit, leaving his legs uncovered and thus showing two goat legs that end in a hoof. The shepherds, moved by enormous fright, scream "the devil", taking refuge under an iron crucifix. And the mysterious gentleman at that point, after glaring at the two, vanishes in a flash, leaving behind only the smell of sulfur.
The next morning the shepherds, after spending a night on the alert, told everyone about the strange encounter. The story spread everywhere and since then, more than 150 years later, there isn't a person who passes by here doesn't remember the night when the Devil got lost in the countryside of the isolated Murgia.
July 31, 2023
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