What is "colobraro"

Colobraro is a town and comune in the province of Matera, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata. The town is positioned on a high hill dominating the valley of river Sinni near the town of Valsinni.

The hamlet is known as the "village without name": its name is considered bringer of bad luck in the towns around, where Colobraro is usually mentioned in the local dialects simply as chillu paese, cudd' puaise or chill' pais, all simply meaning "that village". This notoriety, which has in recent years spread all over Italy, began during the first decades of the 20th century and seems to have been sparked by a story concerning a famous lawyer from the town, Biagio Virgilio, who one day in court to stress a point exclaimed: "If what I say is false, may this chandelier come down". Alas, the chandelier did come down, and Virgilio became synonymous with bad omens, giving birth to the hex upon the town.