Poveglia

Poveglia is a tiny island located between Venice and Lido in the Venetian Lagoon, Italy.

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It has an unfortunate history and is considered by some to be a hot spot for ghosts. During Roman times it was used to isolate thousands of plague victims and during the three occasions when the black death spread through Europe, the island was effectively used as a plague pit — it was considered an efficient way of keeping the infected people separated from the healthy. It is believed that over 160,000 people died on the island throughout its history.

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The island was home to a small community until it was abandoned around 1380, during the War of Chioggia between Venice and Genoa.

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In 1922, a psychiatric hospital was built on the island. It is rumoured that many of the patients claimed to see the tormented spirits of the plague victims soon after their arrival. The doctor there investigated this phenomena by conducting crude lobotomies and medical experiments. He supposedly began seeing the ghosts himself and jumped to his death from the hospital steeple. After this, the hospital was abandoned and remains so to this day.

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Today, the island is used for farming (primarily vineyards) and is not open to tourists.

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Venice: Venice (Italian: Venezia), the "city of canals", is the capital of the region of Veneto and of the province of Venice, , population 271,663 (census estimate 2004-01-01). The city is included, with Padua (Padova), in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area, population 1,600,000. The city stretches across ...

Venetian Lagoon: The Venetian Lagoon or the Venetian Riviera is a lagoon off the Adriatic Sea in which the city of Venice is situated....

Italy: Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. It comprises a boot-shaped peninsula and two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia, and shares its northern alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent countries...