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Poveglia

Coordinates: 45°22′55″N 12°19′52″E / 45.381944°N 12.331111°E / 45.381944; 12.331111
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(Redirected from Poveglia Island)

Poveglia
The hospital on Poveglia
Poveglia is located in Venetian Lagoon
Poveglia
Poveglia
Geography
Coordinates45°22′55″N 12°19′52″E / 45.381944°N 12.331111°E / 45.381944; 12.331111
Adjacent toVenetian Lagoon
Administration
RegionVeneto
ProvinceProvince of Venice

Poveglia (/poʊˈvɛliə/ poh-VEL-ee-ə; Italian: [poˈveʎʎa]) is a small island located between Venice and Lido in the Venetian Lagoon, of northern Italy. A small canal divides the island into two separate parts. The island first appears in the historical record in 421 and was populated until the residents fled warfare in 1379. For more than 100 years, beginning in 1776, the island was used as a quarantine station for those suffering the plague and other diseases, and later as a mental hospital. The mental hospital closed in 1968, and the island has been vacant ever since. Because of its history, the island is frequently featured on paranormal shows.

History

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The island was used as a quarantine station from 1793 until 1814.[1] In 1922 the existing buildings were converted into an asylum for the mentally ill and later used as a nursing home/long-term care facility, until its closure in 1968.[citation needed]

Sylvia Sprigge in her 1961 book ‘ The Lagoon Of Venice; Its Islands, Life And Communications’ describes the site as a home for indigent old people. Sprygge relates delivering a letter to a Doctor on the island, and describes how the able-bodied residents tended agricultural plots, and made wine using the traditional method of crushing grapes under foot.

In 2014, the Italian state auctioned a 99-year lease of Poveglia, which would remain state property, to raise revenue, hoping that the buyer would redevelop the hospital into a luxury hotel.[2] The highest bid was from Italian businessman Luigi Brugnaro, (€513,000). He planned to invest €20 million in a restoration plan.[3] The lease did not proceed because his project was judged not to meet all the conditions.[4][5] Other sources suggested that the deal was annulled because the bid was too low.[6] Brugnaro initially fought the cancellation of the lease, but after he became mayor of Venice, he renounced any intentions to the island.[7]

In 2015, a private group, Poveglia per Tutti, was hoping to raise €25–30 million for a new plan to include "a public park, a marina, a restaurant, a hostel [and] a study centre."[7] As of 2020 the island remained vacant.[8]

Buildings and structures

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The surviving buildings on the island consist of a cavana, a church, a hospital, an asylum, a bell-tower, housing and administrative buildings for the staff. The bell-tower is the most visible structure on the island, and dates back to the 12th century. It belonged to the church of San Vitale, which was demolished under Napoleon's orders in 1806. The tower was re-used as a lighthouse.[citation needed]

A bridge connects the island where buildings stand with the island that was given over to trees and fields. The octagonal fort is on a third, separate island, next to the island with the buildings, but unconnected to it. The fort consists solely of an earthen rampart faced on the outside with brick.[citation needed]

The island contains one or more plague pits. An estimate published by National Geographic suggest that over 100,000 people died on the island over the centuries and were buried in plague pits.[1]

News reports in 2014/2015 said that the building and rusting artefacts still existed.[9][7][10]

Poveglia as seen from Lido
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Sometime after the island had become a quarantine station for ships arriving at Venice in the 18th century, plague was discovered on two boats. The island was sealed off and used to host people with infectious diseases, leading to legends of terminally ill Venetians waiting to die before their ghosts returned to haunt the island.[2]

A doctor allegedly experimented on patients with crude lobotomies. According to a 2014 report by the Travel Channel, the doctor jumped from the bell tower in the 1930s after he said he had been driven mad by ghosts.[2] He later died. Decades later, nearby residents said they heard the bell still, which was removed many years earlier. That report, titled "Haunted History", also states that some restoration work had started recently and had "abruptly stopped without explanation".[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b "National Geographic Your Shot". National Geographic. 2 May 2014. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Kington, Tom (15 April 2014). "'World's most haunted island' up for auction". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  3. ^ https://www.businessinsider.com/haunted-italian-island-sold-2014-5, This Haunted Italian Island Just Sold For $704,000
  4. ^ "How much? Haunted island near Venice Lido sells for €513,000". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  5. ^ Sironi, Francesca (11 June 2014). "Poveglia, l'isolotto gioiello della laguna non-sarà svenduto". L'Espresso (in Italian). Rome: GEDI Gruppo Editoriale. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Italy: Shock As Auction for the World's Most Haunted Island Is Called Off « PRIVATE ISLAND NEWS – Private islands for sale and for rent | Private island resort". www.privateislandnews.com. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  7. ^ a b c Richardson, Nigel (15 December 2015). "Treasured island: How Venetians are saving Povegli". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  8. ^ Mallinson, Harriet (23 April 2019). "Google Maps: Abandoned Italian island has VERY creepy past filled with horror stories". Daily Express. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  9. ^ O'Neill, Kara; Williams, Jack (31 October 2014). "Take a look at the real-life Shutter Island - one of the most haunted locations". mirror. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  10. ^ "How much? Haunted island near Venice Lido sells for €513,000". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  11. ^ https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/ghost-adventures/articles/poveglia-islands-haunted-history, Poveglia Island's Haunted History
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