Villa Durante stands on the Miglio d'Oro in Ercolano. It was built at the beginning of the eighteenth century for the Mirelli princes of Teora: the Duke of Noja's map marks it as «Podere e Casino del Principe di Teora», while Carlo Celano calls it Villa Mirella. On account of its forms and decoration it is considered the work of Ferdinando Sanfelice.
What to see
In the nineteenth century it passed to the Durante family, who enlarged it with new wings and a second floor. The façade is uniform, with two piperno entrance portals and at the centre the family arms with the motto «Durante Deo Domus Est», topped by the remains of a small statue of Saint Michael the Archangel resembling one by Domenico Vaccaro in the Neapolitan church dedicated to the saint.
The building has a triangular plan and occupies the whole block between corso Resina, via Guglielmo Marconi and via Alessandro Rossi. Because of the asymmetry, the left portal leads to a vestibule and a small secondary courtyard, while the right one, in line with the deeper wing, gives access to an unusual circular courtyard with the family chapel dedicated to Saint Januarius. For years the villa was home to Abbot Maccarone, a Carthusian known for his mechanical devices.
Visiting
Part of the main floor is now occupied by a bed and breakfast and keeps rooms with eighteenth-century frescoes. Otherwise the villa is a lived-in building: visiting possibilities should be checked.
Our editors' tip
As the block was too narrow, the garden was laid out opposite the villa, on the other side of the royal road to Calabria, entered through a monumental piperno portal. In 1878 it was sold to one Salvatore Barbato and added to his property, now known as Villa Tosti di Valminuta.
