I have finally realized my dream to visit the castle of Carini’s Baroness.

Her name was Laura Lanza and was a noble Italian woman living in Carini, a small village nearby Palermo.

I have learned her tragic history when I was living in Palermo, a long time ago. It fascinated me because it’s crazy… nowadays just like at the time where the facts occurred.

She was married to an important man. At the time a woman could not choose who to marry and the marriage was arranged by her father and her husband who wanted to formalize the union of the families.

She fell in love with someone else, less convenient for her business family.

Her father was obsessed with honor and as soon as he knew her daughter was having an affair he rushed up to the castle where she lived.

To him it was a matter of disrespect upon the whole family name and the shame she was now casting on all of them.

It seems they did not even argued, he went to the castle with the mere intent of killing her and “clean” his family name.

Donna Laura was no longer his daughter, maybe he never considered her like this, it was a family property, meant to be treated like an object and follow his will.

At the time it would have considered as normal if the betrayed husband would have killed his wife to restore his honor and eventually he would have do it but her father came first and I think it was an “avant première” also for those dark times.

It happened on On the 4th December 1563.

It has been such a shock for the whole Carini’s community as it was not the common procedure in case of dishonor, furthermore the baroness was beloved by everybody.

It’s been a long time and this story has been told so many times that it has been distorted and interpreted.

The legend says that on the anniversary of her death, a red handprint appears on the wall of the room where she has been killed.

In the same room you can find this t-shirt (that says “let them live).

Feminicide is a massive problem, not only in Italy but all over the world.

In Italy the news on TV have a counter that periodically remind us the number of victims of the year but I am afraid we will need different tools to sort this problem out.