The girls of Luceri: one of the most touching legends of Elba Island

There are two versions of the legend about the girls of Luceri. The one we’re going to tell you begins in an ancient castle, called Luceri, near Portoferraio. The lord of this castle was a noble and courageous knight. And it had five daughters, who loved more than anything else.

But a day, the terrible Barbarossa reached the island. The ferocious pirate killed the noble knight without mercy. And then commanded to set fire to castle and to destroy it.

The five daughters of the lord of the castle managed to escape from the fury of Barbarossa. They meandered a lot, searching for the safeness, along the uplands and the cliffs of this side of the island. But the exhaustion won, so they decided to come back to the point where the castle was waking hand by hand.

A scream resounded in the night. There was a pirate boat that was approaching the island. The five girls were terrorized and they started running. But the older slipped from a high rock. Falling into the sea, she trailed with her the other four sisters.

The legend says that today, when Porotferraio’s gulf is illuminated, you can see the wreath of the virgins laid on the bottom of the sea.

Image source: Flickr.com/photos/fabcom