Villa Lysis (Fersen), haunted mansion in Capri. Photo Gallery by Adalberto Tiburzi at pbase.com

Villa Lysis (Fersen), haunted mansion in Capri.

After having been condemned for corruption of minors
Baron Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen (1880-1923), French aristocrat of Swedish origin
steel industrialist poet and painter (in one word dandy)
fled to Capri with his boyfriend and built this mansion for him(self).
18 years later he committed suicide in this room.
Hence, the ominous yet fascinating fame that surrounds the villa and its owners
(location of Peyrefitte's novel "L'Exilé de Capri" for those who believe in destiny ;-).

Update 2009: Next February the Nicholson Museum of the University of Sydney Australia (that holds the largest collection of antiquities in southern hemisphere)
is planning the exhibition "Classical Fantasies 2: the age of beauty – from Naples to Capri".
The Museum would like to display some of these photos and I'm really honoured of that.

Update 2009: The new born Fondazione Capri rents Villa Fersen for cultural initiatives,
such as Dioniso a Villa Lysis, more than 100 photos and negatives of Wilhelm von Gloeden exposed.
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If interested in Capri you may visit my A Stranger to Capri galleries.

Villa Lysis late afternoon	Villa Lysis (villa Fersen) Capri	Villa Lysis	Villa Lysis
Villa Lysis lower terrace	Villa Lysis	Villa Lysis Fersen	Et le feu s'éteignit sur la mer
Villa Lysis the round temple	Villa Lysis	Villa Lysis	Villa Lysis
haunted carnival	Villa Fersen	Villa Fersen	villa Fersen bathroom
Villa Fersen upper terrace	Villa Lysis	Villa Lysis opium room	Villa Lysis
Villa Lysis late afternoon	Dioniso a Villa Lysis

comment |

Paolo Peggi (aka Bracciodiferro)		17-Jul-2015 22:30
Excellent photography Adal.Vote Paolo

Adalberto Tiburzi		05-Feb-2013 09:55
Baron Fersen's grave in the non-Catholic cemetery of Capri... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimitero_acattolico_di_Capri

Adalberto Tiburzi		06-Dec-2012 23:02
a must-read:http://booknode.com/l_exile_de_capri_0117976/covers

Bonnie		14-Oct-2012 15:16
Villa Lysis is open to the public. A donation basket is by the front door. I visit it at least twice yearly and the current caretaker concurs with the family member who wrote that recent restorations fail the original. The gardens are in ruin. I didn't visit the tennis court area. Still, the personality of Ferson remains in the original footprint and the views are breathtaking. His grave in the non-catholic and foreign part of Capri's cemetery is well-tended and is in proximity of Norman Douglas, Charles Caryl Coleman and other Capri notables and ex-pats.It is definitely worth visiting both sites. Hopefully the Commune di Capri will take an interest in its future.

Adalberto Tiburzi		10-Aug-2012 08:00
I don't know the current situation Sebastian.

Sebastian		08-Aug-2012 17:35
Not having visited the Villa Lysis in several years, I wonder what its ownership and access statis is now--August 2012? The last time I was there, on a late afternoon in September, the caretaking family allowed me access to the mansion. Does anyone know if that may still be a possibility?

Judy		09-Oct-2011 21:34
I visited this house in September 2011 and was so taken with the beauty of the setting. The 'walk' to the house is hard but definitely worth the effort.

OTREKO		10-Jun-2011 07:06
Je viens de découvrir le nom de FERSEN et de voir ici les photos de la magnifique villa qu'il a construite à Capri et ce à quoi il l'a dédiée. Merci de cette visite et de ces photos remarquables.Je vais me procurer et lire ses oeuvres.

cardon		24-Feb-2011 21:37
Faire suivre svp VIENT DE PARAÎTRE Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, Messes Noires. Lord Lyllian (1905) éditions QuestionDeGenre/GKC www.gaykitschcamp.com Le succès de Jacques d’Adelswärd-Fersen (1880-1923) ne se dément pas. Les éditions originales ou anciennes de ses livres se vendent aujourd’hui à des prix remarquables. Je lui ai consacré en 1991 un dossier, enrichi en 1993, qui permet de com prendre dans quel contexte polémique son œuvre s’est développée. On doit à Mirande Lucien d’avoir donné une image assez exacte d’Akademos, revue que Fersen a fondée en 1909 et soutenue toute l’année et qui peut à juste titre être considérée comme la première revue homosexuelle française. Jean-Claude Féray a attiré notre attention sur son œuvre littéraire aux éditions Quintes-feuilles. Alors qu’il vient de publier Jeunesse (1907), je suis heureux d’avoir enfin pu mettre la dernière main à cette réédition de Lord Lyllian (1905). Lord Lyllian est un roman à clefs où se rencontrent les sommités homosexuelles de la fin du xixe : Oscar Wilde, Lord Alfred Douglas, John Gray, Jean Lorrain, Joséphin Péladan, Achille Essebac, Robert de Montesquiou, Friedrich Krupp — et Fersen lui-même — ainsi que leurs égéries les actrices Ellen Terry et Sarah Bernhard. Les amateurs de ces personnages devenus de véritables icônes se réjouiront de la manière dont Adelswärd-Fersen les met en scène avec des dialogues très camp que Wilde n’aurait pas reniés et dans des poses mélodramatiques à souhait. J’espère que, comme moi, vous tomberez amoureux de Lord Lyllian, dans une nouvelle édition portée par d’éminents spécialistes respectivement de la littérature homosexuelle et de la littérature décadente, Jean-Claude Féray et Jean de Palacio. Patrick Cardon 17 € ISBN 978-2-908050-68-4 Disponible à partir du 1er mars aux librairies Les Mots à la Bouche, 75004 et Comme un roman 75003 Paris ou commandes franco de port = chèque de 17 euros libellé à GKC à adresser à Patrick Cardon chez Faria 37 rue Gabrielle 94220 Charenton le Pont (France) tél 06 03 554 566.

Adrian Cobbe		05-Aug-2010 03:21
My friend, I'm an architect and a lifelong visitor of Capri. It is alright that the villa was renovated only it looks like over-done by someone with very little taste and no consideration of the fagil beauty that this house had. Maybe it will be sold, the land merrits the price, and then really brought back to its glory. Well, I guess it is all a question of feeling. In any case the walls are standing and the roof seems intact, that in itself is an achievment. Regards

JP		02-Jan-2010 13:56
Lorenzo, I am also related to the French branch of the Adelswärd family and would be happy to get in touch with you. You can write me at vaudreville@wanadoo.fr.

francois cazala		05-Sep-2009 18:17
Well it seems that the villa is now offered for sale ? I recently came across this announcement. A pity if this is the case as it won't be accessible to the public any longer and there is liitle chance that it will be used for cultural initiatives.

Lorenzo		05-Oct-2008 20:26
I slept in the villa in 1981 as it was a real ruin. Maria Salvia, the lady who used to live in the ground floor and was the keeper of the house let me sleep in Nino's room. i was 20. The garden was delicious and i spent four nights in the house. I used to go down to the little crique to bathe in the morning. I was served by la signora a huge beakfast on the terrace but i splet on the floor... My grand mother was Adelsward Fersen' sousin and told me a lot of the house during the pre-war years when she came there with some relatives, she met Nino Cesarini and few years later was at jacques's funeral. Few years ago I came back and visit again the house. It was nice to see it restored but the kind of restoration is an abomination : th old bath room full of belle époque staff has been destroyed and changed for a... spa. The decoration all over the house is nouveau riche and has nothiong to see wirh what it was even ruined. The little squares of glass mosaics covered by silver or gold were beautiful the new decorum is like a russian mafioso' house in Moscow ! Happily the configuration reminds the same : Nino's room, Jacques's room, guests rooms and downstairs, the sitting room, the dining room and on the ground floor the chinese room. The best now is the garden even if the tennis and most of the pergolas do not exist any more... I prefer to watch in my family album the old pictures of the house, and read again the Peyrefitte's novel, " l'exilé de Capri".

William Bendig		09-Sep-2008 19:15
Your fine photographs have done a great service for researchers of both literature and history regarding Villa Lysis. If the Villa is not purchased let us hope the Town Council will ever find a way of preserving it. Congratulations.

Julian		04-Jul-2008 12:13
I visited the house in 1983 when it was very much a derelict ruin. It looks very impressive now - congratulations to all concerned!

Keith Goldstein		16-Apr-2008 12:15
What a magnificient home. Thanks for sharing these images. ~V~

monica memoli		12-Apr-2008 22:47
Great place and wonderful shots. v

Guest		12-Sep-2007 12:44
J'espère pouvoir la voir, à l'intérieur, lorsque je serai à Capri en automne! JL

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