Interesting facts about Naples' ghosts

As a sunny and marine city, you could never imagine Naples to be also considered  a city of ghosts. There is a track of mystery and darkness which covers with a shawl a specific part of the city: Posillipo. 

Mystery in Naples

Since always considered a posh and aristocrat part of Naples, the hill of Posillipo reveals having a double face: overlooking the sea has, instead, ghosts hiding in its palaces. 

• “Palazzo Donn’Anna Carafa” stands on the sea of Posillipo.
  A majestic, historic building built in the 16th century. In a long story of love and jealousy, the legend tells that two women, Anna and Donna Mercedes, loved the same man: Gaetano Casapenna. Considered the murderer of Mercedes, the ghost of Anna is appearing in the castle during the night with both lovers. 

• “The Palace of the Spirits at Marechiaro” or “Villarosa”.
  It was a roman villa from the 1st century BC. Nowadays, we can only see its ruins left. It is located in Pausilypon’s archeological and marine park and has been considered dedicated to the cult of the goddess Isis, with night rituals and magnetic forces so home of mysterious events. Also Called in the past “Domus praestigium” (House of Witchcraft), a fisherman in Marechiaro declared that Villarosa is the home of ancient ghosts. According to the legend, a luminescent figure melts the zither near the villa declaring poetry in latin. 
  The story associates the ghosts in Posillipo to Virgilio, which was considered to practise and taught magic arts in an esoteric school of Posillipo. These energies are now on the coast and they even taint the waters of Gaiola. 

• The Gaiola, which is also called the damn island, is a small island in the submerged Gaiola Park.
  Once a safe shelter for sailors, next to the island was erected the School of Virgil, where poets were performing magical rites which contaminated the water with a powerful spell. Many residents have had an unfortunate fate with familiar disgraces. 

Ghosts and mysteries

 According to folklore, a ghost is a soul or spirit of a dead person which appears to the living.  

Hiding during the day, ghosts have their own residence and only by night make their presence felt. As a city of history and traditions, Naples also has its mysteries, hiding in its palaces and small islands, but the magic also resides in the sea.

If you are passionate about mystery and would like to discover the dark face of Naples come to visit its palaces, ruins and if you are brave enough, to swim around la Gaiola. For more info about the mysteries of Naples contact us.