Between the folds of time and popular tales, in addition to the famous legend of Pizzomunno and Cristalda, Vieste also holds another poignant story: the legend of angelina, a young noblewoman from Vieste who took her own life for love.
This legend has come down to us also thanks to the pen of Antonio Fazzini, a writer from Vieste and nephew of Lorenzo Fazzini, who in the nineteenth century made a story of it in a romantic and deeply emotional style, published in the Neapolitan periodical “Poliorama Pittoresco” with the title “The Gargano Suicide” and drawings by Molino
The story opens with a night scene: the helmsman, during the crossing between Manfredonia and Vieste, tells the tragic story of the young woman who lost her life for love. Fazzini gives us an intense description of the Gargano landscape, made even more poignant by the melancholy chant that accompanies the story:
“Passenger, who goes / Across Adria ploughing the peaceful waves, / Now a shadow will come, casting its shadow / Over the sky, over the sea and on the shores…”
With delicacy, the writer tells of thwarted love, sacrifice, paternal pride, desperation and repentance. The figure of Arrigo, who returned too late and was unable to face his loss, dissolves into legend: it is said that every night he wanders dressed as a pilgrim over the tomb of his beloved.
An impossible love
Angelina, the only daughter of the Baron of Vieste, was loved by all the people for her beauty and kindness. Her heart, however, belonged to Arrigo, a brave young man of humble origins, commander of the ships destined to defend the city. Her father, gruff and haughty, opposed their union, preferring to give her in marriage to a lord of higher rank.
Despite threats and attempts at separation, the feelings between the two grew in secret. But fate was ready to strike. While the town was celebrating a festival, the sea brought omens of misfortune: a Saracen fleet was approaching. Arrigo set sail with his ships, leaving Angelina to wait for him between hope and fear.
The Storm and Despair
The battle took place at sea, but the fury of the elements erased every trace: “The turbid and foaming sea hurled mountains of water onto the rocks… a deluge of waters descending… took away our sight of the armies”Angelina, shocked, gazed out to sea from the castle landing, while lightning and rain also physically hit her, burning her on the right side of her body.
In the following days, no ship returned. An old pilgrim who had come from the Holy Land reported that Arrigo and his men were prisoners, had renounced their faith and married Arab women. For Angelina it was too much: “For his sake I disobeyed my father… and he has denied the faith of his fathers”. So he decided to die.
The Leap from the Rock
He climbed onto the rock of ripa called “the lover's stone”, a cliff that still today overlooks the deep sea and threw herself into the waves. Her body was found by fishermen, still beautiful despite her death. “The bells of the village with mournful tolls… also lamented at sunset the loss of that angelic girl”.
The Return of Arrigo
That very day, Arrigo and his men returned to port. When he learned of Angelina's death, he disappeared forever. It is said that on clear nights, a man dressed as a pilgrim sits under a willow tree near her grave, weeping silently.
“Passenger, who goes / Across Adria ploughing the peaceful waves, / Now a shadow will come, casting its shadow / Over the sky, over the sea and on the shores…”
