Corso di Porta Romana, 3

"Situated on Porta Romana, you will find a rather unusual looking building, known to the locals as the ‘House of the Devil’. As the legend goes the palace was once owned by senator and marquis Ludovico Acerbi, who was a member of Milanese high-society during the 17th century. During this period Northern Italy was suffering serious outbreaks of the bubonic plague, which claimed the lives of approximately 280,000 people across this region. Whilst all this was happening it became clear that Acerbi showed no concern for the pandemic and continued to host luxury banquets and large parties for his friends and eminent noblemen of the city. It’s noted that whilst the streets of Milan were shrouded in sadness, music and laughter would be heard coming from the windows of the Acerbi palace with everyone who attended the gatherings quite amazingly never getting infected. Soon the Milanese started referring to the palace as the ‘House of the Devil’ believing that Ludovico Acerbi was in fact the devil incarnate, due to his callous and inhumane behaviour and this belief was reinforced by his mysterious house which featured carvings of demon-like faces around the doorway. Further to this, what really cemented the legend was that during an attack on Milan in 1848 an Austrian cannonball hit the frontage of the palace but somehow it seemed to cause hardly any damage. During this era the Milanese people could only presume that the house was cursed and had a wickedness surrounding it. If you look up to the first balcony to the right of the door, you can still in fact see the limited amount of damage the cannonball left. This is marked by a small plaque which includes the date of the attack. "

"Close to the San Giovanni in Conca crypt, at the beginning of the popular street Corso di porta Romana, specifically at number 3, you can find a lovely baroque house, Palazzo Acerbi, that was said to be the Milano residence of nonetheless than the Devil himself. During the infamous plague so well depicted by Alessandro Manzoni in his "Promessi Sposi", the owner of the house, the Marquise Ludovico Acerbi, was often hosting opulent parties with dozens of guests. None of his guests nor he were ever sick or worse died of the plague, so the rumors in Milan quickly spread that he was the Devil because it was impossible that a mortal human could ever remain healthy while many people in the whole city were dying every day. If you are lucky, you can see the main door open and the beautiful courtyard inside. If you look up standing underneath the main entrance you will see a demon face staring back at you. "