Italian folklore and legends: from Romulus to the Befana

Italy has never had a single folklore. Every region, sometimes every valley, keeps its own stories, and the differences are the whole point. A lagoon legend from Venice, a foundation myth from Rome and a healing ritual from Puglia do not belong to one system; they belong to one peninsula. This edition of Mythical Mondays follows that variety.

First published in August 2026.

Rome: a city founded by a killer

Rome's foundation myth is one of the most political stories in Europe. Rhea Silvia, a Vestal virgin, gives birth to twins, Romulus and Remus, fathered by Mars. The king orders them drowned in the Tiber, but the basket survives, a she-wolf suckles them and a shepherd raises them. As adults they found a city, quarrel over its site and its walls, and Romulus kills Remus.

The traditional date is 753 BC, and the story was already being questioned in antiquity. What matters is what it was used for: it made Rome a city founded by a killer, protected by a wolf, with a destiny that justified conquest. The Capitoline Wolf, the bronze statue in the Capitoline Museums, became the city's symbol — even though the wolf is now thought to be medieval and the twins were added in the fifteenth century.

Winter: an old woman and an evil glance

The Befana

On the night of 5 January, the eve of Epiphany, Italian children hang stockings for the Befana, an old woman who flies on a broom and leaves sweets for good children and coal for the rest. She is not a witch in the fairy-tale sense. She is a grandmother figure, sooty and practical, and her name is a corruption of Epifania.

The story accounts for her lateness. The Magi invited her to join them on the road to Bethlehem, but she was too busy with housework and said she would come later. She never found them, so she flies every year, leaving gifts for every child in case one of them is the child she missed. It is a gentler myth than most: the punishment for procrastination is an eternity of small kindnesses.

The evil eye and the cornícello

The malocchio, or evil eye, is still taken seriously in parts of southern Italy. It is not a spell cast by a professional witch but an involuntary glance, often driven by envy, believed to bring misfortune to a person, a house, an animal or a business. The symptoms are vague and familiar: sudden headaches, unexplained bad luck, a run of failures.

The defences are just as practical. The cornícello, the red horn pendant, is worn or hung; salt, water and olive oil are used in household rituals to diagnose and break the eye; and in some towns a local healer recites prayers over the affected person. The Church has always been uneasy about these practices, which says something about how deeply rooted they are.

Sicily: the boy under the island

Colapesce is a Sicilian hero, a boy who loves the sea and can stay underwater longer than anyone. In the best-known version, the emperor Frederick II throws objects into the sea to test him and finally drops a cup. Colapesce dives, finds it, and notices that Sicily rests on three columns — one of them cracked and burning.

He spends the rest of his existence holding up the broken column, and whenever he is not there the island shakes. It is an earthquake myth, but also the story of a local boy who matters more than any emperor. The character appears in Sicilian folklore, in later literature and in a famous poem by the nineteenth-century writer Luigi Capuana.

Naples and Messina: a wizard's egg and a floating city

Virgil's egg and the Castel dell'Ovo

In Naples, the medieval poet Virgil was remembered not as the author of the Aeneid but as a wizard. One legend says he built the Castel dell'Ovo on an island and placed a magic egg in a cage in its foundations. While the egg remains intact, Naples is safe; if it breaks, the castle and the city will fall.

The story is first recorded in the medieval Gesta Romanorum tradition and was repeated for centuries. The castle is real, the egg is not, and the legend does exactly what folklore is meant to do: it gives a building a secret and a city a reason to worry.

The Fata Morgana

In the Strait of Messina, under the right conditions, sea and sky produce a mirage: castles, towers and cities appear to float above the water. The effect is real and has a scientific explanation — warm air over cooler water bends light — but the name comes from Morgan le Fay, the sorceress of Arthurian legend, who was said to conjure the visions to lure sailors.

It is a rare case of an optical effect becoming a legend and then a place name. The Fata Morgana is not an Italian invention alone; the same name is used for mirages around the world, which measures how far the story travelled.

Where to find these stories today

Rome's wolf is in the Capitoline Museums and the Palatine Hill beneath it. The Befana takes over Italian squares on 5 January, and the tarantella festivals of Puglia, the puppet theatres of Sicily, the Venetian carnival and the countless local sagre keep the rest of the calendar busy. The Castel dell'Ovo still stands in Naples, and the strait at Messina still performs its trick when the weather allows.

Frequently asked questions about Italian folklore

What is the Befana?

An old woman who brings gifts to children on the night before Epiphany, 5 January. She flies on a broom, fills stockings with sweets or coal, and takes her name from the feast of the Epiphany. She is one of Italy's best-loved folk figures.

Is the evil eye still believed in Italy?

In parts of southern Italy, yes. The malocchio is still discussed and guarded against with gestures, amulets such as the cornícello, and household rituals. Belief is stronger in rural areas and among older generations, but the symbols are common everywhere.

Is Romulus and Remus a true story?

No. It is a foundation myth, not a historical record. The twins, the she-wolf and the fratricide are literary and religious traditions Rome used to explain its origins. Archaeology shows that the Palatine Hill was settled in the eighth century BC, roughly when the legend places the founding.

Where can I experience Italian folklore?

Epiphany celebrations for the Befana, the tarantella festivals of Puglia, the puppet theatres of Sicily, the Venetian carnival and the many local sagre are the most accessible ways. Museums of local history and costume are also unexpectedly good.

More from the Mythical Mondays series

• Greek mythology: gods, monsters and the stories behind them
• Myths and legends from Switzerland
• German folklore: myths, legends and folktales
• All Mythical Mondays posts

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