Villa Celimontana

Rome · Italy · Natural site

A woman's figure searches the walls for her own bones — the courtesan Imperia, whose grand tomb was given away to an unnamed canon.

Imperia Cognati, called la Divina, was the most celebrated courtesan of Renaissance Rome: mistress of the banker Agostino Chigi and a model for Raphael. In 1512 she died of poison at twenty-six and was buried in a lavish tomb in the church of San Gregorio Magno just beside this park. A couple of centuries later the tomb was cleared to make room for an unnamed canon, and nobody today knows where her remains went. Legend says she never found rest: at dusk a woman in Renaissance dress is said to move along the park walls on the Caelian hill, searching for her own bones. Visitors describe footsteps on the gravel behind them and a figure that vanishes at the wall facing the church.

FAQ

Where is Villa Celimontana located?

Villa Celimontana is in Rom, Italy.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.

Image: Gzen92 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons