Haunted Tuscany - from personal experience

FIRENZE, Italy - Dec. 18, 2013 - PRLog -- Two years ago I went visiting the Malaspina Castle in Fosdinovo, a fascinating village in the province of Massa-Carrara. This majestic fortress dates back to the 12th century and is said to be haunted by various ghosts, the most famous being Bianca Maria Aloisia – daughter of Jacopo Malaspina and Oliva Grimaldi. This girl was apparently in love with a poor guy but her parents firmly opposed their relationship; after multiple unsuccessful attempts to separate the young couple, Bianca Maria was walled up in a cell with her dog (symbol of devotion) and a wild-boar (symbol of rebellion). Besides the fact that Mrs Mina (my adorable guide) showed me a weird stain resembling a girl with a wild-boar and a dog on a room ceiling, I was told that a lot of people have seen this ghost and to confirm the truth of the whole story, recent excavations have revealed the presence of some bones, probably belonging to a girl and two animals!

Last Summer I went out for a dinner in Lucca with my family; Cantine Bernardini is a delightful restaurant with a very pleasing staff situated at Via del Suffragio, 7 in the heart of the old city centre. After dinner, the owner told us about the ghost who inhabits the cellars, a centuries-old entity who was probably imprisoned there a long, long time ago... He said the ghost is friendly and there is no reason to be afraid of him, but at the same time he told us that his wife once met the ghost and was scared to death and the other staff members don't really like to be left alone at the restaurant.

Located on the border between Florence and Siena, the extraordinary Brolio Castle overtops the southern Chianti countryside and is also known for being haunted by the ghost of Bettino Ricasoli, who died there in 1880. The story goes that on full-moon nights the Baron would walk around the castle or even ride a white horse, along with his dogs... Ghosts or no ghosts, I can tell you that I have been there with a friend at night and the atmosphere was so sinister that we turned on our heels and headed back from where we came from!

Last but not least (and of course there are thousands of other places but not in my experience...) Florence's Bargello – a very popular art museum with a grim past. Since the 13th century, it has served as a court, a barracks, a torture prison and a penitentiary; although the jail cells have been turned into sumptuous exhibition rooms, the courtyard used to be the place where innumerable executions took place... I'm not a clairvoyant, but I can tell that when you're out there, you get a very strange, creepy feeling.

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Caterina Pomini