Italy’s history is often right there in the street, behind a palace façade or inside a church crypt. Some places also carry darker stories: cursed palazzi, plague-era islands, abandoned buildings and catacombs where the past feels unusually close, especially during Halloween.
These five haunted places in Italy combine local folklore with real historical settings that fit well with the spooky season’s mix of events. A few are accessible to visitors, while others are best viewed from public areas or explored through a licensed tour.
Haunted Venice: Ca’ Dario, Rialto and Poveglia Island
Venice feels particularly eerie after day visitors leave. Narrow calli, black water and old stone façades give local legends plenty to work with, though the city is just as compelling without treating it as a horror set.
- Ca’ Dario on the Grand Canal: this 15th-century palazzo has a long-running reputation for bringing misfortune to owners and tenants. It is not open to the public, but its distinctive façade can be viewed legally from the water or the opposite bank.
- Rialto Bridge and the ghost of Fosco Loredan: the legend says Loredan wanders at night carrying his wife’s severed head after killing her in a jealous rage.
- Poveglia Island: used at different points as a quarantine station, including during plague outbreaks, Poveglia is often described online as one of the world’s most haunted islands.
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Ca’ delle Anime in Voltri, Genoa
On the western edge of Genoa, in Voltri, Ca’ delle Anime is an abandoned inn tied to Ligurian ghost lore. Its name translates as “House of Souls”, and stories of strange noises, vanishing travellers and grim innkeepers have persisted locally for years.
According to the tale, innkeepers robbed guests by lowering the ceiling while they slept. It explains why the building became such a fixture in local urban legend.
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The former psychiatric hospital near Colorno, Parma
The abandoned former psychiatric complex near Colorno, outside Parma, has drawn photographers, filmmakers and urban explorers. Long corridors, neglected grounds and its association with institutional history have contributed to its unsettling reputation.
Brazilian street artist Herbert Baglione created spectral painted figures in abandoned hospital settings around Parma. However, note that the former hospital is not generally open to the public.
Ducal Palace of Colorno provides a more appropriate way to spend time in the town. Official tours and the palace gardens give useful context on the area’s history, while the flat Po Valley setting can feel especially atmospheric in autumn fog.
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Donna Olimpia’s ghost in Rome
Rome has centuries of stories about ghosts, saints, nobles and political intrigue. One of the city’s most persistent legends concerns Donna Olimpia Maidalchini, the powerful sister-in-law of Pope Innocent X.
Folklore says that Donna Olimpia races through Rome at night in a carriage pulled by black horses. Some retellings place sightings near Ponte Sisto and Piazza Navona, areas closely linked to the Pamphilj family.
Donna Olimpia became an influential figure at the papal court during the 17th century. After Innocent X’s death, accusations of greed and improper influence followed her, and later storytelling turned those rumours into a full ghost legend.
Near Castel Sant’Angelo, this small church contains the Museo delle Anime del Purgatorio, or Museum of the Souls of Purgatory. Its small collection includes objects said to bear marks left by souls seeking prayers.
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Palermo’s catacombs and Caccamo Castle
Palermo has a particularly direct relationship with mortality in its religious and civic history.
The Capuchin Catacombs hold thousands of naturally mummified bodies, arranged according to social groups and religious customs over several centuries. Rosalia Lombardo, who died shortly before her second birthday in 1920, is among the best-known individuals preserved there.
Sitting above the valley near Lake Rosamarina, the medieval Caccamo Castle is associated with tales of apparitions and noble intrigue. It is open during regular visiting hours, making it a practical choice for anyone interested in Sicilian history alongside the ghost lore.
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Source: https://www.idealista.it/