Secrets of Ca’Dario in Venice

Dubbed "the house that kills", this 500 year old Venetian Gothic palace has claimed lives and repelled boatmen, boarders, renters, owners and potential owners like Woody Allen.   Built for the aristocrat Giovanni Dario in 1479, the house then passed on to a long list of owners who were stabbed to death, murdered, or died by suicide or assassin, suffered financial ruin, scandal, or heart attack. Violence, death by near-miss, lovers’ quarrels and ghosts further occupied its long history of tragedies and mayhem. As recently as 2002, The Who’s original bass player John Entwistle suffered a heart attack a week after renting the palace.

The house sits on an old Templar cemetery. Apparently, the settling of the foundation makes the building tilt visibly to the right. The house is directly opposite the S.Maria del Giglio boat stop on the canal.

Photo: Nino Barbieri/CCBY-SA2.5 https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/palazzo-dario