Palazzo Donn'Anna
Posillipo
Hidden gemCastles
The story
The unfinished seventeenth-century palace juts sheer over the water, dark and labyrinthine: through its empty rooms legend has the shadow of Donn'Anna still wandering.
Access
exterior only (private)
The story
Palazzo Donn'Anna is the great seventeenth-century palace that rises on the water at the start of via Posillipo. Anna Carafa, wife of the viceroy, had it built to a design by Cosimo Fanzago from 1642. It remained unfinished — Anna Carafa died in 1648 — and precisely this incompleteness, with its mass facing the sea, has fed its charm and its legends.
What to see
The imposing and slightly spectral mass of the palace, with the arches open to the sea, seen from the road or from a boat: one of the most evocative profiles of the Posillipo seafront, wrapped in the stories of ghosts and loves that literature, from Matilde Serao onwards, has sewn onto it.
Tips
The palace is today a private residence, divided into apartments, and is not visitable inside: it is admired from the outside, from the road or better from the sea. You are at the start of via Posillipo, a good point on the walk towards Marechiaro.
Frequently asked questions
What is Palazzo Donn'Anna?
A great seventeenth-century palace on the sea at Posillipo, built by Anna Carafa to a design by Cosimo Fanzago and left unfinished: one of the most celebrated profiles of the seafront.
Can you visit Palazzo Donn'Anna?
No: it is a private residence divided into apartments, not visitable inside; it is admired from the outside, from the road or from the sea.
Why is Palazzo Donn'Anna tied to legends?
Its unfinished mass facing the sea has inspired tales of ghosts and loves, taken up by writers such as Matilde Serao.
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