Welcome to the site Napoliforme

It is part of the Pausilypon Archaeological Park and the Gaiola Underwater Park, and is one of the structures of the grandiose Pausylipon complex, the villa-city of Publius Vedio Pollione, which gives its name to the entire hill, inherited from Augustus. Having become an imperial villa, the Pausylipon is a 'maritime villa', consisting of several buildings arranged on terraces sloping down towards the sea, creating picturesque scenery enhanced by extraordinary views. The area occupied extends westwards as far as the Bay of Trentaremi and eastwards reaches the village of Marechiaro as far as the Villa degli Spiriti. The three-storey villa is built on a rocky bank jutting out into the sea, joined on one side to the mainland and, partly submerged by the effect of the bradyseum, seems to emerge from the water. Discovered in 1840 by Guglielmo Bechi, a royal engineer, it was studied in the early 20th century. Like many Roman ruins, the villa was reused over time and adapted to different uses: from a dwelling to a warehouse and even a tavern frequented in the summer, as some documents recall, by groups on boat trips. The evocative and mysterious natural setting, the appearance of an imposing ruin and the ghostly view from the sea have fuelled tales and legends of night-time rituals in honour of the moon or threatening spectres. The fishermen of Marechiaro point to it as the home of ancient ghosts and ensure that during the night an evanescent figure can be seen crossing the palace to the sound of a zither, or torchlight appearing and disappearing through the window openings. As one of Sir Walter Scott's companions, who visited the mansion on 26 January 1832, recalls, "it was said that a ghost, cloaked in white, appeared from time to time through a hole in the floor of one of the rooms of this mansion. It was therefore called the house of spirits and no one would have dared to inhabit it'.