Andiamo! | Citalia Magazine Autumn 2021

In 1911, a ship skipper, Captain Gaspare Albenga, showed interest in
acquiring the island. As he was navigating around it, he crashed his ship
into the rocks and subsequently drowned, although locals say neither
body or ship were ever found.
There’s some irony in this part of the legend as Gaiola was once called
Euplea and considered the protector of safe navigation. In fact it even
had a small temple for those who sailed by.
In the 1920s, a Swiss businessman took possession of the island, and was
subsequently found murdered and wrapped in a rug. Not long after, his
wife drowned in the sea.
The island was then purchased by Otto Grunback, a German perfume
dealer. While spending time at his newly-acquired villa, he suffered a
heart attack and instantly died.
The legend of the curse continued to swell, and yet interest
never dwindled from wealthy Europeans looking for a
peaceful place to spend their retirement.
Gianni Agnelli, the Turinese owner of automobile company Fiat, acquired
the island and was probably its most notable owner. Yet, even Italy’s
richest man suffered its alleged curse. First, his son’s body was found
under the island’s bridge in an apparent suicide, then his young nephew,
Umberto, who Agnelli had begun grooming to take over the business,
died of a rare cancer.
Not deterred by its history, Jean Paul Getty, an American billionaire
tycoon, purchased Gaiola. He lost his oldest son to suicide and his
youngest son died under suspicious circumstances.
Then, in 1973, his grandson was involved in a high-profile kidnapping
by the Calabrian mafia. They sent the boy’s severed ear to Getty in
the post, which forced the industrialist to pay US$3 million ransom
for his safe return.
Gianpasquale Grappone, the owner of a successful insurance company,
became the final private holder of Isola Gaiola. He ended up imprisoned
due to unpaid debts, while his wife perished in a car accident.
In 1978, the island became the property of the government of the
Campania region, who declared the island part of the Parco Sommerso di
Gaiola (Gaiola Underwater Park), a protected marine area.
Just after buying Gaiola, Maurice Yves Sanzoz, a Swiss pharmaceutical
industrialist, went mad. Ending up in an asylum in Switzerland, he
eventually committed suicide.
A steel industrialist from Germany, Baron Karl Paul Langheim, was next
to take on Gaiola, but, much like de Negri before him, was dragged into
financial ruin, apparently caused by ‘wild living’.
As the villa deteriorates and slowly approaches
the fate of the island’s ancient structures,
no one’s entirely sure that the curse has been lifted.
In 2009, a couple were murdered in the villa that sits across from the
island, which brought the Gaiola Malediction back into the local news.
So what do you think? Is Isola Gaiola cursed? Will you be brave enough
to visit it on your next holiday to Naples?
A 2 night holiday in Naples starts from £399 per person. Speak to one of our Personal Travel Planners on 01293 765061
Summer/Autumn 2021
Andiamo!