Curiosities
The history of Peruzzo goes back in the mists of time.
Within the estate lies Caminino which was in the Middle Ages an important church and today, carefully restored, is a charming holiday resort. The main building still shows signs of its origin, the mullioned window in the façade, the outline of the apses and the large hall which is divided into three naves by columns surmounted by rustic capitals.
In the past the people of the neighbouring villages went there for all the main religious ceremonies and to venerate Saint Feriolo, the Roman Legionary converted to Christianity, who, legend has it, was killed near the spring in Caminino because of his faith.
Water, which has always been of great importance in the rural communities, is still closely linked to the cult of the saint.
People pray to Saint Feriolo to make it rain or drink the miraculous spring water to recover from an illness or in the hope of getting pregnant. Such beliefs have probably ancient pagan origins that the Church has since legitimized and Christianized through the figure of the martyr Feriolo.
From the Saints to Bandits ...
Peruzzo is also linked to the story of the bandit Antonio Magrini, known as Basilocco, a native of Montiano who during the nineteenth and twentieth century having been accused of murder, hid in the woods and lived by stealing and robbing.
There were a lot of bandits in Maremma, where extreme poverty drove the most rebellious to live by their wits, and escape the control of the law by living in hiding.
Often the bandits could count on the support of the local people who shared their poor living conditions and offered them hospitality.
Basilocco, on the night of 15th February 1904 was caught and killed by the Carabinieri while he was in Serratina farm house on the Peruzzo farm as a guest of farmer Gildo Pecorini. He was only 28 years old but in photos taken at the time he seems to be a handsome mature man, with a fashionable moustache and the dark complexion of someone used to living outdoors.
Legend has it that he was the lover of the wife of the farmer, who maybe turned him in for revenge, and it is nice to think that he still roams stealthily among the woods around the house maintaining an atmosphere of a world that no longer exists.
