Poveglia in Italy is the world’s most haunted island and it’s up for sale
ONCE a dumping ground for victims of the plague and the former site of a mental hospital, this Italian island is said to be haunted by tens of thousands of tormented spirits.
And now it could be yours.
Poveglia is a seven hectare uninhabited island off the coast of Italy and it’s being put up for sale by the Italian government to help reduce national debt.
But with a chilling and disturbing history they could be hard pressed to find a buyer.
Located on the Venice Lagoon, the island swirls with horrific tales including rumours that people were burned and buried there during the plague, that the soil is 50 per cent human ash and that the psychiatrist who ran the mental hospital was a butcher and torturer.
Now littered with abandoned buildings and overrun with weeds, the island has always been the site of controversy.
The Genoese and Venetians fought over it in the 14th century and victims of the plague were sent there to die. It was used as a quarantine station in the 18th century and was most recently the site of a sinister mental hospital.
It is said about 160,000 bodies were dumped on the island when the Bubonic plague hit Italy and that thousands of tortured spirits haunt its shores.
Work crews even uncovered a grave pit filled with the remains of more than 1,500 plague victims.
In 1922 the island became home to a mental hospital with reports that the deranged doctor experimented on patients with lobotomies using hand drills, chisels and hammers. He later threw himself off the bell tower claiming to be driven mad by ghosts of his victims.
With a past so sinister, no tourist has been allowed to step foot on the island. But the Italian government is now hoping the site can be taken over by a luxury hotel and are offering a 99 year lease for its redevelopment.
Actually, going by the aerial pics, there's lots of buildings you could live in while renovating, and cleared fields you could build a vege garden (erk) and keep a few chooks and sheep.
I love Venice so much and I heard about this when I was last there, but not sure if I would want to live there. I would sure want a longer lease than 99 years as it would cost a whole heap of money to fix up. I understand that the people of Venice are trying to stop the sale.
Oh Jean...... I love Venice too. One of my fav. places in the world
I go there every two years for at least a month. Been doing this for decades.
I love the city,, the people, the social courtesies, the hilarious bureaucracy.
I am invited into the back rooms of the Murano furnaces that the public never sees because they know me and know that I am a serious collector of museum quality pieces from 1935 to the 1980's. I can see their eyes light up when I walk in the door. $$$$$$$
I feel quite at home there and . I really know my way around the place. (well, as much as a non Venetian can)
I have a friend trying to teach me the Venetian dialect......without luck.....I am hopeless
freshwaterbeach, there is a Venice blog called, I am not making this up, written by a local with all of the gossip and back alley stories that you never hear about. He also includes photos and some of the hidden gardens are incredible.
