Cornelia Tasso's House in Sorrento

In the heart of the old town, on Via San Nicola, stands a palazzo that locals call Casa Fasulo but everybody knows as the house of Cornelia Tasso. This is where Cornelia, sister of Torquato Tasso, lived after marrying the Sorrento nobleman Don Marzio Sersale. It is a short but charming stop, linking elegant architecture to one of the most moving episodes in the poet's life.

What to look at from the street

The palazzo is best admired from outside. The doorway is framed by flat rustication and crowned by the coat of arms of the Sersale family. Looking up, you will see the central balcony of the piano nobile, supported by four carved corbels, the so-called gattoni, and decorated with egg-and-dart mouldings and grotesque masks. If the main door is open, glance into the entrance hall: its vault is frescoed with the Sersale coats of arms.

The poet's return in disguise

Tasso's biographers mention the house in connection with his return to Sorrento. During a troubled period marked by a persecution mania, the poet appeared before his sister in disguise, pretending to be a messenger bringing news of his own death: he wanted to see for himself how sincere her sisterly love was. Cornelia's grief gave him the answer he was looking for. The episode long captured the imagination of writers and painters, and in 1812 the French artist Louis Ducis chose it as the subject of a painting. To find out more about the poet and other famous Sorrentines, see our page on Sorrento's famous figures.

Getting there

Via San Nicola lies in the western part of the old town and is a stop on the faith itinerary, which runs from the Basilica of Saint Antoninus along Via delle Grazie and Via Accademia to the church of the Annunziata. On the same street, at number 28, is the Museum of Wood Marquetry: the two visits combine perfectly in a two-hour stroll through the lanes.