Legend has it that in 1297 under the guidance of a soothsayer known as Dracosia (a mystic from Genoa) who practiced Stregheris, sometimes referred to as "La Vecchia Religione" (meaning the Old Religion), who had advised François Grimaldi to disguise himself as a monk in order to gain entrance to the Ghibellines fortress, foretelling that this would insure his victory.