Welcome to the house of horrors

The palace of Ca'Dario in Venice is renowned for its curse. Even Uri Geller was spooked when he and Irish director Jason Figgis went to film there, writes Aoife O'Reilly

When the world's most celebrated paranormalist Uri Geller gets spooked, you know you're on to something supernatural. After all Geller's psychic powers and mind-bending skills have fascinated the scientific and entertainment world for the last 30 years.

However, in a forthcoming TV documentary on Venice, it's Geller who is drawn into an increasingly disturbing revelation of the Italian city's most extraordinary buildings, canals and historical sites. The documentary, directed by Dublin film-maker Jason Figgis for Sky One, culminates with Uri's visit to the 15th-century palace, Ca'Dario, a place Geller says is mind blowing.

"It is hard to verbally describe what I felt there. Even I found it shockingly scary and I work in the paranormal." Geller chose Venice as the first of what he plans as a series of documentaries on famous cities because of its tremendous beauty and aura of other-worldliness.

"Visually it is overwhelming and it's shrouded in mystery and mysticism. I wanted to explore the side that is hidden from tourists. Walking in the dark narrow lanes you can feel the dark mystical energy." A city without cars, with an outstanding historical, artistic and architectural heritage, Venice has fascinated visitors for centuries. There is something undeniably melancholic and mysterious about the crumbling splendour of the city. This may emanate from its decadent past when it was Europe's playground filled with coffee houses, public gaming houses and carnivals. Even Venice's most celebrated son, Casanova, was known as an alchemist, cabalist, spy and magician.

In fact, since Venice lost a third of its population to the Black Plague, and buried most of the bodies under water, city has been known for its "dual reality" - that of the living and the dead.

Ca'Dario epitomises the sinister side of this duality. Albert Einstein was moved to write: "The best thing we can feel about Ca'Dario is a sense of misery." He, like most, felt there was something terrible lurking in the house. Locals whisper that it is the house of devil and that evil is embedded in its walls.

Instantly recognisable for its gaudy mix of architectural styles, Ca'Dario is notorious for the fatal misfortunes that befall its owners. So much so that gondoliers glide by it without reference and tourist officers shuffle uneasily when asked about it, shrugging off dark rumours without explanation.

However, there is no denying that the palace has sat empty on the property market for the past 10 years after its owner, Italian business tycoon Raul Gardini, was implicated in a bribery scandal and shot himself in the early 1990s.

The palace's history is littered with bodies, mysteries and scandals. In 1479, Ca'Dario was built by Venetian nobleman Giovanni Dario. The misfortunes began with his son-in-law who caused scandal by insulting the city and was later murdered. Dario's daughter subsequently died of shame.

Her tomb and that of her father, on a nearby island, were later used to store gunpowder and were blown up during an Austrian siege in 1849.

According to Venetian folklore all those who owned Ca'Dario came to a sticky end. Some claim that even being connected to the property can bring on the hex. Alleged victims of the curse include: English historian Rawdon Lubbock Brown whose sudden death was a suspected suicide; a reclusive Torinese count who was beaten to death with a candelabra by his homosexual butler/lover; The Who manager Kit Lambert who according to some myths was murdered and to others died of a brain haemorrhage; and Venetian business man Fabrizio Ferrari who went bust and whose sister was murdered.

So great is the notoriety surrounding the palace that Geller himself was apprehensive about visiting the building. His nervousness was heightened when Venice suffered its worst floods in almost 40 years the day after he and the crew arrived.

Certainly some unnerving things occurred during their time in Venice. For example while filming in Ca'Dario, Figgis took a demented turn and "freaked" Geller out by threatening to break his face. Reflecting on the incident, Figgis says he was vaguely aware of what was he was doing but felt like a bystander. He reckons the palace contains a force that makes people act violently.

The atmosphere in Venice had a powerful effect on Geller's powers, evidence of which is captured on film. Though the documentary features frightening reconstructions, Geller emphasises that there was no dramatisation of what actually occurred when they were in Venice.

The genesis of the Venice project lies in Twilight Hour, Figgis's haunting documentary about photographer of the paranormal Simon Marsden which showcases the 37-year-old film-maker's sensitive cinematography. When he saw the film, Geller immediately contacted Figgis and they have since formed a production company XI Pictures together.

Geller gushes with praise about his protégé whom he calls "Ireland's Spielberg". He says: "I was impressed by the sheer beauty, the subtle nervousness and uneasiness that Twilight Hour has on you. Only a brilliant director can achieve that - stunningly beautiful yet scary." Since its release in 2002, Twilight Hour has been picked up by RTÉ, Discovery Channel and SVT (Swedish's national broadcaster), and has been selected for film festivals all over the world.

The feature-length documentary has served as invaluable calling card for Figgis, leading to a collaboration with Dragonfly Films to produce a documentary on London's King Head Theatre and a job as director of photography on a film about Marilyn Monroe directed by actor Jonathan Hyde (whose roles include the Egyptologist in The Mummy), called Missing Marilyn.

Geller is supremely confident in Figgis's talent. He says the only worry he had about the shoot in Venice was his director's perfectionism. But says Geller: "I locked into his mind which is why we managed to film the documentary in eight days." Using his mind to shape destiny is something Geller has claimed to have done since he discovered his ability to bend spoons when he was child.

From a poor family in Tel Aviv, Geller realised the entertainment value of his gift, which his mother believes he inherited from his distant relative Sigmund Freud, and used his powers to elevate his position. "I wanted to make it, to be rich so that I could buy a TV for my mother."

Finding fame in Israel in the 1960s, Geller came to international attention in 1972 when he supposedly stopped a cable-car in mid-air in Germany using the power of his mind. Since then, Geller's demonstrations have mystified scientists and spectators alike. He says: "We all have dormant powers of the mind. (In the past) I thought I was doing it but I was wrong. I was acting as a trigger, as a catalyst for the power of the minds (watching)."

His controversial skills have seen him work for the CIA, play a role in international peace talks, stop Big Ben and put him in contact with the elite of international superstardom - from Salvador Dali to John Lennon, Michael Jackson and, more recently, major Hollywood players.

The Venice documentary is one of many projects he and Figgis are developing. Others include 3 Crosses, a violent gangster movie in which Coronation Street star Keith Duffy plays a serial killer, written and directed by Figgis with Geller as executive producer and in a supporting role.

Figgis revels in the horror genre and believes the Venice documentary really pushes the boundaries for grossness on TV. Emulating the style of Japanese horror films such as The Ring series and Tale of Two Sisters he says: "There are no ghosts jumping out at you, rather you get a sense that you have nowhere to go and something is creeping up on you."

Uri's Haunted Cities: Venice will be screened on Sky One, on Sunday, January 9th at 9 p.m.