Posted by Veronica Cybo-Malaspina (1611-1691), a noblewoman from Massa married to Duke Jacopo Salviati, is remembered as the alleged instigator of the murder of Caterina Canacci, her husband’s lover, killed in Florence on 31 December 1633: her head was delivered to Salviati in a basket. According to legend, her ghost haunts the villa in Figline Valdarno where she withdrew, now the Serristori hospital.
Veronica Cybo’s story is one of betrayal, jealousy and death. After discovering that her husband was cheating on her, she did not hesitate to take revenge by having his lover killed. After the crime she went into exile in a villa that later became the Serristori hospital in Figline Valdarno.
In this very hospital, many patients and staff claim to have seen the spirit of a woman wandering in the oldest wing of the building. But what exactly happened? Here is the story of Veronica Cybo.
Veronica Cybo
Veronica was born on 10 December 1611 in Massa, the daughter of Carlo I Cybo-Malaspina, future prince of Massa and Carrara. It is said that she was not particularly beautiful and that she did not have the best of characters, but in those days marriages were arranged, and so, on the proposal of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany Maria Maddalena of Austria, she was given in marriage to the Marquis Jacopo Salviati. The wedding was held in Massa on 28 February 1628, and for the occasion Pope Urban VIII made Jacopo Duke of Giuliano.
Her husband, however, was a womaniser and, as often happened at the time, saw other women.
He also frequented places for men only, and it was while he was in one of these that he noticed a very beautiful woman who lived in a house nearby. She was Caterina Canacci (or, by her maiden name, Caterina Brogi), a Florentine woman famous for her beauty, born in 1608, who lived apart from her husband Giustino Canacci, a much older man.
Sparks flew between the two and they began an affair.
Veronica discovered the affair and, furious, plotted her revenge.
According to the traditional account, she first warned her rival after meeting her in the church of San Pier Maggiore, but when Caterina laughed in her face in front of everyone, Veronica knew exactly what to do. It must be said, however, that this episode is not confirmed by the sources.
The murder of Caterina Canacci
Veronica wanted Caterina dead and tried to poison her, but failed. She then hired assassins and obtained the help of Caterina’s stepsons, Bartolomeo and Francesco Canacci, born of Giustino’s previous marriage, persuading them to avenge their father’s honour.
On the evening of 31 December 1633 Bartolomeo, together with the assassins sent from Massa, went to his stepmother’s house in Via dei Pilastri. Caterina, according to the chronicles, was a few months pregnant by Jacopo. The door was opened by the maid, who recognised him and let him in.
As soon as he crossed the threshold, Bartolomeo killed Caterina and then the maid who had witnessed the crime, cutting both bodies into pieces.
The remains were scattered around Florence: part in a well, part in the sewers and the rest in the Arno. All except Caterina’s head.
The young woman’s head was brought to Veronica as proof of the crime, and she had it delivered to Jacopo in a basket, covered with some linen.
Horrified, he immediately looked for the culprits, knowing however that his wife was behind it. Bartolomeo and his brothers were caught and tortured. Bartolomeo confessed and was sentenced to death, beheaded in front of the Bargello, while his accomplices were sentenced to prison.
Veronica belonged to a family that was too powerful and she was not arrested, but she chose voluntary exile in Villa San Cerbone, which is today the Serristori hospital in Figline Valdarno.
Jacopo, for his part, moved to Rome with his family in 1634 to escape the gossip. Veronica would die in Rome on 10 September 1691.
The ghost of Veronica Cybo
It is said that Veronica’s ghost haunts the hospital, and many patients and nurses swear they have seen the figure of a woman dressed in white who vanishes shortly after being seen.
During some building work a strange footprint even appeared on a freshly painted wall, and the locals have no doubt: Veronica left it.
Her spirit appears mainly during the summer months and in the days after Christmas, preferring the oldest wing of the building, where the administrative offices are.
There is even a commemorative plaque in the hospital.
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- Veronica Cybo-Malaspina – Wikipedia (Italian)
- Jacopo Salviati, I duca di Giuliano – Wikipedia (Italian)
