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  • Matt Damon in a dinner jacket and bow tie, smiling, with an older man in a blue tie who has an arm round him
    Matt Damon in Rome in 1999, during the filming, with the photographer Rino Barillari at Harry’s Bar on Via Veneto. Photograph from the Barillari archive. Ziogiucas · CC BY-SA 3.0
    Matt DamonTom Ripley · Rome, 1999
  • Gwyneth Paltrow with her hair pinned back, in a blue one-shouldered dress
    Gwyneth Paltrow at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2000. Jared Purdy · CC BY-SA 3.0
    Gwyneth PaltrowMarge Sherwood · 2000
  • Jude Law in a dark suit and tie, looking just off camera
    Jude Law at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007; no free photograph of him from the late 1990s has been found. Indian Nomad · CC BY 3.0
    Jude LawDickie Greenleaf · 2007

Mongibello, 1958 · filmed on Ischia, Procida and in Rome

The Talented Mr. Ripley

Close an umbrella to count what lies under it.

A village south of Naples

Mongibello is on no map.

Dickie’s village was made up for the story and built for the film from two real islands in the Gulf of Naples. Take it apart: send each piece home.

MONGIBELLO 5 of 5 pieces

Mongibello is whole. Send a piece home.

ISCHIAPROCIDANot to scale

Ci vediamo a Mongibello.

Where every piece came from

The Gulf of Naples

Two islands, one village.

Pink, yellow and white houses with arched stairways above the water
Houses at Corricella in 2022. Bernard Gagnon · CC BY 4.0

Ischia Ponte, Ischia

Ischia Ponte and the Castello Aragonese

Tom’s bus sets him down at Ischia Ponte, beneath the Aragonese Castle.

The castle stands on a small volcanic islet joined to Ischia by a causeway, the Ponte Aragonese.

Hiero I of Syracuse built the first castle here in 474 BC. In 1441 Alfonso V of Aragon replaced the wooden bridge with one of stone.

Ripley had been here before: Plein soleil, René Clément’s 1960 film of the same novel with Alain Delon as Tom, was shot mainly in Naples, Ischia and Procida. Ischia lists both films among those made on the island.

Walk the causeway from Ischia Ponte. Check the castle’s opening times and prices before you go.

Where we read it
Il Monastero

Il Monastero, Castello Aragonese

Ischia Ponte, Ischia

Rooms in a former convent inside the Aragonese Castle, on the rock above Ischia Ponte, with a restaurant and a café. The convent dates from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

See the hotel

Corricella, Procida

Marina Corricella

The fishing village of Corricella was the heart of Mongibello.

Procida has been a set for more than 30 films, Il Postino among them, and was Italian Capital of Culture for 2022.

The island covers about 4.3 square kilometres and has just under 10,000 people.

Walk down to the harbour from the upper town; boats from Naples and Ischia land at Marina Grande.

Where we read it
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Gulf of Naples

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Everyone is somebody else

Pairs.

Naples plays Rome, Palermo plays Naples, and one building in Anzio has played two towns. Match each part to the place that played it.

Eight cards, face down. Turn two at a time.

Where we read it
Tiers of red and gold opera boxes rising round a horseshoe auditorium
Inside the Teatro di San Carlo in 2012: the red and gold tiers of boxes. IlSistemone · CC BY-SA 3.0

Via San Carlo 98, Naples

Teatro di San Carlo

The film’s opera house in Rome is the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples.

It opened on 4 November 1737 and is the oldest opera house in the world still in use.

A fire in February 1816 gutted it; it was rebuilt in about ten months and reopened in January 1817. It now seats 1,386.

The 2026–27 season opens on 2 December 2026 with a new production of Verdi’s Luisa Miller, directed by Davide Livermore and conducted by Daniel Oren.

See the front from Via San Carlo, beside Piazza del Plebiscito; go inside with an opera ticket.

Where we read it
A glass and iron-vaulted shopping arcade with stucco walls
The Galleria Principe di Napoli in 2022. Bernard Gagnon · CC BY 4.0

Piazza Museo, Naples

Galleria Principe di Napoli

Tom and Dickie send and collect their post in the Galleria Principe di Napoli.

The arcade was built between 1873 and 1883 to designs by Nicola Breglia and Giovanni De Novellis. Its north exit faces the National Archaeological Museum.

It reopened in 2009 after restoration. It is mostly municipal offices now, and people still cut through it to reach the museum.

Open to walk through, opposite the National Archaeological Museum.

Where we read it

Anzio, on the coast south of Rome

The casino that never opened.

In The Talented Mr. Ripley it is the Sanremo jazz festival.

For the jazz scenes Jude Law learned the saxophone and Matt Damon the piano.

Where we read it
Where we read it
A curved Liberty-style seafront building with domed towers
The Paradiso sul Mare at Anzio in 2010. Lalupa · CC BY-SA 3.0

See it from the seafront. The inside opens for events and exhibitions.

Rome, in a borrowed name

Three squares and a bridge.

Tom’s Rome is close together: 3.6 km in straight lines from Piazza Navona to the Turtle Fountain, up to the Spanish Steps and back to the Tiber.

A long Roman square with a fountain and an obelisk in front of a domed church
Piazza Navona in 2009. Myrabella · CC BY-SA 3.0

Parione, Rome

Piazza Navona

Dickie and Tom run into Freddie by the Fountain of the Four Rivers.

The square keeps the long oval of the Stadium of Domitian, built in AD 80, on whose site it stands.

Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers dates from 1651.

Open at all hours. Early morning is the quiet time.

Where we read it
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Rome’s squares on foot

Rome

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The end of the summer

Venice, and a church in Palermo.

Café tables under the arcades of a long Venetian square
Caffè Florian under the arcades of Piazza San Marco, with its musicians playing, in 2020. Kent Wang from Barcelona, Spain · CC BY-SA 2.0

Piazza San Marco 57, Venice

Piazza San Marco and Caffè Florian

Peter waits for Tom in Piazza San Marco, and Tom tells his story under its arcades.

The Venice scenes used Caffè Florian.

Florian opened on 29 December 1720 under the Procuratie Nuove. It is the oldest coffee house still running in Italy.

The square is open at all hours; Florian’s tables sit under the arcades.

Where we read it
A Norman church with a stone bell tower above a small square in Palermo
La Martorana in Piazza Bellini, Palermo, in 2022. Derbrauni · CC BY 4.0

Piazza Bellini, Palermo

La Martorana

Peter’s rehearsal of church music was filmed in La Martorana, on Piazza Bellini in Palermo.

George of Antioch, admiral to King Roger II, founded it; its charter dates from 1143.

Its 12th-century mosaics include a Christ Pantokrator in the dome. It has been part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015.

Its services follow the Byzantine rite, in Greek and Albanian.

A working church. Check visiting hours, and dress for a church.

Where we read it

The people

Who made it.

  • Matt Damon in a dinner jacket and bow tie, smiling, with an older man in a blue tie who has an arm round him
    Matt Damon in Rome in 1999, during the filming, with the photographer Rino Barillari at Harry’s Bar on Via Veneto. Photograph from the Barillari archive. Ziogiucas · CC BY-SA 3.0
    Matt DamonTom Ripley · Rome, 1999
  • Gwyneth Paltrow with her hair pinned back, in a blue one-shouldered dress
    Gwyneth Paltrow at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2000. Jared Purdy · CC BY-SA 3.0
    Gwyneth PaltrowMarge Sherwood · 2000
  • Jude Law in a dark suit and tie, looking just off camera
    Jude Law at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007; no free photograph of him from the late 1990s has been found. Indian Nomad · CC BY 3.0
    Jude LawDickie Greenleaf · 2007

Anthony Minghella wrote and directed it from Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel. Cate Blanchett played Meredith Logue, a character added for the film, Philip Seymour Hoffman played Freddie Miles and Jack Davenport played Peter Smith-Kingsley. John Seale shot it, Walter Murch edited it and Gabriel Yared wrote the score.

  1. 1958The year the story is set
  2. $40mThe budget
  3. 25 Dec 1999US release, by Paramount
  4. 5Academy Award nominations, Jude Law’s among them

Apart from the opening scenes in New York, it was shot entirely on location in Italy.

Where we read it

  • Cast, crew, the 1955 novel, the 1958 setting, the $40 million budget, the US release by Paramount on 25 December 1999, five Academy Award nominations including Best Supporting Actor for Law, and filming in Italy apart from the New York opening.

    Wikipedia: The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)

Go and be someone else for a summer.

Where it is now

13 places you can visit, from Ischia to Venice. Palazzo Malcovati, Dickie’s house, is private: it is named here and not on the map.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Walk the causeway from Ischia Ponte. Check the castle’s opening times and prices before you go.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A seafront walk at Ischia Porto, a short ride from the ferry harbour.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Walk down to the harbour from the upper town; boats from Naples and Ischia land at Marina Grande.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public street; mind the scooters.

  1. A castle on a rocky islet joined to the shore by a long stone causeway, over a blue sea
    The Castello Aragonese and its causeway from Ischia Ponte, in 2024. Dudva · CC0

    Ischia Ponte, Ischia

    Ischia Ponte and the Castello Aragonese

    Tom’s bus sets him down at Ischia Ponte, beneath the Aragonese Castle.

    Walk the causeway from Ischia Ponte. Check the castle’s opening times and prices before you go.

    Where we read it
  2. A sandy beach with umbrellas and a calm sea on Ischia
    The shore at Ischia Porto in 2016. Abxbay · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Ischia Porto, Ischia

    Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo

    Tom’s first meeting with Dickie and Marge, on the beach, was filmed on the shore by the Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo.

    A seafront walk at Ischia Porto, a short ride from the ferry harbour.

    Where we read it
  3. A curve of tall pastel fishermen’s houses stacked above a small harbour of boats
    Marina Corricella on Procida in 2021. Velvet · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Corricella, Procida

    Marina Corricella

    The fishing village of Corricella was the heart of Mongibello.

    Walk down to the harbour from the upper town; boats from Naples and Ischia land at Marina Grande.

    Where we read it
  4. A domed church painted pale yellow on the cliff above the coloured houses of Corricella
    Santa Maria delle Grazie above Corricella, in 2016: the nearest free view of Via San Rocco. Ekrem Canli · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Terra Murata, Procida

    Via San Rocco

    Dickie rides his Vespa along Via San Rocco to meet Silvana.

    A public street; mind the scooters.

    Where we read it

Stay

A night on the rock.

Rooms in the old convent inside the Aragonese Castle, above the square where Tom’s bus stops.

Il Monastero

Il Monastero, Castello Aragonese

Ischia Ponte, Ischia

Rooms in a former convent inside the Aragonese Castle, on the rock above Ischia Ponte, with a restaurant and a café. The convent dates from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

See the hotel

Go there

By boat and on foot.

Boat days round Procida and Ischia, Rome’s squares on foot, and inside the San Carlo.

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Procida and Ischia by boat

Gulf of Naples

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Rome’s squares on foot

Rome

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Inside the Teatro di San Carlo

Naples

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What’s on

Verdi in Naples.

The opera house that played Rome opens its season on 2 December 2026.

Checking current event dates…

Take it home

The poster, the novel, the score.

An original 1999 one-sheet, Highsmith’s novel and the soundtrack.

Printed Originals · Our poster store

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) — US one-sheet

An original 1999 US one-sheet, 27 × 40 inches, rolled, in mint condition.

In stock

View poster
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The Talented Mr. Ripley

Patricia Highsmith · W. W. Norton

Highsmith’s 1955 novel, the source of both this film and Plein soleil.

Find the book
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The Talented Mr. Ripley: Music from the Motion Picture

Gabriel Yared and various artists · CD, Sony Classical, 1999

The 1999 soundtrack album on CD, with Gabriel Yared’s score.

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Find a copy

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The papers

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

14 of 14 places · 16 of 16 Moments

  • Ischia Ponte and the Castello Aragonese

    Ischia Ponte, Ischia

    • The bus to Mongibello

      Tom’s bus sets him down under the Aragonese Castle.

    • Plein soleil

      Clément’s 1960 Ripley, with Alain Delon, is shot mainly in Naples, Ischia and Procida.

  • Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo

    Ischia Porto, Ischia

    • The beach

      Tom’s first meeting with Dickie and Marge, on the beach.

  • Palazzo Malcovati

    Ischia Ponte, Ischia

    • The festival

      From the terrace, the statue of the Madonna rises from the sea.

  • Marina Corricella

    Corricella, Procida

    • Mongibello

      Corricella’s fishermen’s houses are the heart of the invented village.

  • Via San Rocco

    Terra Murata, Procida

    • The Vespa

      Dickie rides his Vespa along Via San Rocco.

  • Galleria Principe di Napoli

    Piazza Museo, Naples

    • The post

      Tom and Dickie send and collect their letters in the arcade.

  • Teatro di San Carlo

    Via San Carlo 98, Naples

    • The opera

      Naples’ opera house plays an opera house in Rome.

  • Paradiso sul Mare

    Via delle Ondine, Anzio

    • Sanremo

      The Sanremo jazz festival is staged at Anzio’s unopened casino.

    • Rimini, earlier

      For Fellini, the same building is the Grand Hotel of Rimini in Amarcord.

  • Piazza Navona

    Parione, Rome

    • Freddie

      Dickie and Tom meet Freddie by the Fountain of the Four Rivers.

  • Piazza Mattei

    Sant’Angelo, Rome

    • Tom’s apartment

      Tom rents rooms in Palazzo Costaguti on Piazza Mattei.

  • Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps

    Campo Marzio, Rome

    • The steps

      Tom keeps meeting Marge and Meredith in Piazza di Spagna.

  • Ponte Sant’Angelo

    Lungotevere, Rome

    • The carriage

      Tom and Meredith ride over Ponte Sant’Angelo in a carriage.

  • Piazza San Marco and Caffè Florian

    Piazza San Marco 57, Venice

    • Venice

      Peter waits for Tom in Piazza San Marco.

  • La Martorana

    Piazza Bellini, Palermo

    • The rehearsal

      Peter rehearses church music in Palermo’s Martorana.

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