Two coastal resorts north of Rome are locked in a controversy in which both claim to be the place where Michaelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio, breathed his last.

Ladispoli, a popular seaside town on the Via Aurelia 57 kms north of Rome is insisting that tradition, which names the more fashionable Porta Ercole some 95 kms further north as the bird flies, is mistaken.

Caravaggio is known to have disembarked on the beach at the Castle Orsini-Odescalchi, Palo Laziale near Ladispoli in 1610, on his way from Naples to Rome, where he hoped to obtain a papal pardon for a murder he had committed a few years earlier. He was bringing three paintings with which he hoped to mollify Paul V and have his death sentence lifted,

Due to a case of mistaken identity, he was arrested by the castle guards and imprisoned, while the paintings, which had remained on the boat, were taken back to Naples. He apparently bribed his way out of the Palo castle but the rest of the story is shrouded in mystery. Caravaggio was a sick man, suffering from fever and possible an infected sword wound. The town of Ladispoli argues that in these conditions he could not have managed the long trek to Porta Ercole and that he must have died on the beach somewhere. His burial place has never been found.

To settle their claim, the town of Ladispoli has now installed a commemorative bronze bust of the artist, by sculptor Sergio Bonafaccia, at a prominent spot on the beach promenade of Marina di Palo, recently unveiled by Mayor Alessandro Grando. In addition, the town of Ladispoli is launching a special cultural programme dedicated to Caravaggio throughout June.

Info: www.terzobinario.it www.comunediladispoli.it