Montebello Castle hosts the legend of Azzurrina

The Montebello Castle, located in Poggio Torriana within the Rimini hinterland, is the setting for the famous Italian legend of Azzurrina. The story concerns Guendalina Malatesta, the daughter of feudal lord Ugolinuccio di Montebello, who was born with albinism.

According to local tradition, Guendalina disappeared on June 21, 1375, during a violent summer solstice storm. While attempting to retrieve a rag ball that had fallen into the castle's underground ice cellar, the child vanished without a trace. Folklore suggests her spirit returns to the fortress every five years during the summer solstice. In 1990, researchers and parapsychologists used high-sensitivity microphones in the cellar to investigate these reported phenomena.