The Monkey tower.

The Frangipani tower is nicknamed the Monkey tower because of an odd happening which occurred almost 4 centuries ago…

According to an old legend the owners’ monkey, which he kept as a pet, one day climbed the tower carrying the infant of the family in its arms. The Virgin was prayed for the safety of the child. The father called the animal with his customary whistle and surprisingly the monkey climbed down and entered one of the windows. As a thank offering for the ‘miracle’ the father dedicated a statue to the Virgin on top of the tower and vowed that a lamp should be kept burning in front of it in perpetuity. Electricity has made this vow easier to keep.

This legend is also recalled by the American writer Hawthorne who lived in Italy for some years.  [...] Three or four centuries ago this palace was inhabited by a nobleman who had an only son, and a large, pet monkey, and one day the monkey caught the infant up and clambered to this lofty turret, and sat there with him in his arms grinning and chattering like the Devil himself [...]  (French and Italian Notebooks”, 1883, Nathaniel Hawthorne).