Ca’Dario, the cursed palace

Laatste update op 8 May 2020

Fascinating, that you can say about this palace overlooking the Canal Grande. It is not just pretty, the building is also said to be cursed. It is known as one of the most notorious haunted houses of the world. It is also being called The House of No Return..

It is a beautiful, rich palace in Istrian stone and marmble. It was built in 1487 by Giovanni Dario. On the front of the palace a Latin inscription was engraved, saying: “Urbis Genio Joannes Darius“. Speculations are that the text is an anagram for: sub ruina insidiosa genero, which is of course a direct reference tot the treacherous nature of the building. This text means something like: I will bring those under this roof into insidious ruins. The text (click to enlarge):

mysterieuze tekst Ca’Dario

Through the centuries, indeed a lot of those living in the palace, were ruined or they died mysteriously, starting with the daughter of Giovanni Dario. She is said to have committed suicide after her husband went bankrupt en a son was killed in a fight. Owners went bankrupt, died, or committed suicide. Someone was killed in the palace and more recent, on 7 april 1981 Christopher (Kit) Lambert, manager of the band ‘The Who’ died in the palace. He was an excessive drugs user and according to Wikipedia he died, aged 45, because of a brain hemorrhage after he feel down the stairs. Businessman Ferrari who had bought the building in the eighties, went bankrupt soon after his purchase. His daughter died in a mysterious car crash (no witnesses).

However, if you have enough courage to enter the palace, you are in for a treat. The bathing room give a good impression of what you can expect:

Ca’Dario weelderige badkamer

Links

The mystery of Ca’ Dario
Photos of the interieur of Ca’ Dario
The other Venice, blog with nice photos
Mysteries and legendes in Venice