In Caraglio, a charming municipality in the province of Cuneo, the story goes that in the winter of 1198 two young lovers, Cecilia and Roldano, were intercepted by the local despot, Douzu, because the latter was attracted to the maiden and demanded from her the 'Jus primae noctis', a widespread medieval custom that consisted in the right to the first night's sleep on the day of the wedding.
Cecilia apparently decided to meet the persecutor, but when he entered her room one night, she killed him with a stiletto hidden in her hair.
The scream of death that rose from the castle sparked the uprising led by Cecilia's fiancé Roldano.
An army of commoners, tired of the oppression suffered by the local tyrants, then marched towards Caraglio. Those young heroes fought to give their people a better future and laid the foundations for the birth of a great free city, which would become today's Cuneo. Their deeds remained etched in the memory so much so that they became the main figures of the carnival, while the Dusu became the symbol of evil and therefore the 'cicio' (puppet) to be burnt.
From that time there remain, on the hill of Caraglio, some remains of the castle walls and the tyrant's tower, and in the old village there is a charming window, where Cecilia would look out to converse with her beloved Roldano.
