A lazzaretto was established on the island to house the sick. Caligula's Gardens, Long Hidden Beneath Italian Apartment Building, to Go on View, Newly Discovered Bat Species Has Halloween Colors, Rare Doctor's Note Offers Glimpse Into Napoleon's Agonized Final Years, Dire Wolves Weren't Actually Wolves, DNA Analysis Reveals, The History Behind Amazon's 'One Night in Miami', You Can Now Explore the CIA's 'Entire' Collection of UFO Documents Online, Turkish Archaeologists Discover Grave of Sultan Who Defeated Crusaders, 'Stunning' Victorian Bathhouse Unearthed Beneath Manchester Parking Lot, Nine Famous People and What They’re Buried With. or Get the best of Smithsonian magazine by email. Yes, I love chestnuts, truffles, cardigans, chunky scarves and pumpkin pies. In 2004, workers digging the foundation for a museum on Lazzaretto Vecchio, a small island in Italy’s Venetian Lagoon, made a gruesome discovery. Do you know this Swiss a, Bordeaux spruced up for the holidays! In the mid-14th century, the Black Death was sweeping across Europe and Venice was severely affected. The island is first mentioned in chronicles of 421 AD. The tiny 18-acre Italian island of Poveglia is located less than half a mile from Venice and is considered to be one of the most haunted locations in the world. Mass graves of plague victims were also found on Poveglia’s neighboring island, Lazzaretto Vecchio, which was considered the first plague colony. In a sense, those whispers were somewhat vindicated a short while ago when archaeologists working on the nearby quarantine islands of Lazaretto Nuovo and Lazaretto Vecchio unearthed a mass burial site with the remains of thousands of plague victims. Lazzaretto Vecchio is home to the oldest of Venice's plague quarantine stations (above, a view from the museum island) Black Death era: 16th-century graffiti … The scary island is divided into two separate parts by a canal. Continue Aug 4, 2016 - Discover Poveglia Plague Island in Venice, Italy: A small island less than half a mile from Venice is a forbidden island with a dark and twisted past. Although Lazaretto Vecchio was closed for several years due to the economic situation at the time, members of the Archeoclub of Venice have worked to restore the island to safety. Your email address will not be published. The dark brings about hints of… The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film celebration in the world, founded in 1932. Luxe Adventure Traveler | About | Work With Us | Privacy Policy, Poveglia: The Haunted Island in the Venetian Lagoon. That all changed in 1793 when two ships arrived carrying the plague. ... At the time of the Black Plague conditions in the islands hospital called Lazzaretto Vecchio … Between 1403 and 1630 it housed a hospital which cared for people during the plague epidemics and as a leprosarium. Lazzaretto Nuovo, the quarantine island, is in the northern lagoon. It goes without saying that many of these people died on the island during this time, leading to the widespread belief that Poveglia is haunted. Who Was Charles Curtis, the First Vice President of Color? It was used as a hospital and medical isolation area for centuries. But the Italian government has higher hopes for Poveglia and other historic properties around the country. Vote Now! Keep up-to-date on: © 2021 Smithsonian Magazine. No, but seriously, this place sounds scary. Later a second quarantine island was created at Lazaretto Nuovo. During the plague, Lazaretto Vecchio was used as a quarantine center for victims and recently mass graves of plague victims were uncovered. In the Venetian lagoon sits Poveglia Island, a small, unpopulated landmass cut down the middle by a canal. Poveglia was a normal island, but an attack by a Genoan fleet in 1379 caused residents to relocate to nearby Giudecca. Advertising Notice ***********. Another historical island of interest, although admittedly I only went to Burano, is Lazzaretto Vecchio. Yet another version says someone or some entity pushed him off the tower. Since nobody is allowed to go there, Google Maps is the only way to view the island with such a dark and frightening past. The island is first mentioned in chronicles of 421 AD. Lazzaretto Vecchio, a small island in the lagoon, was home to the first of these institutions, but Poveglia is the best known. The haunted tower on Lazzaretto Vecchio (Dreamstime) Lazzaretto Vecchio has served many purposes in its long history. California Do Not Sell My Info (30 minutes on the island) You can’t live in Venice, or as close to Venice as we do, without hearing the tall tales of the island Italians claim is the most haunted in the world. Feb 26, 2013 - In 2007 work crews on Lazaretto Vecchio, a small island in Italy’s Venetian Lagoon, located a couple of miles from Venice’s famed Piazza San Marco, were digging the foundation for a new museum when they came across one such grave pit, filled with the remains of more than 1,500 plague victims. Mary Beth Griggs is a freelance science journalist based in New York City. A further four properties listed for auction will be sold off rather than leased, including a monumental monastery in the crumbling old town of Taranto in Puglia, in the heel of Italy, and a 15th century castle in Gradisca d’Isonzo, near the border with Slovenia, that was built to defend against the Turks. Back to the Haunted Island. Cookie Policy In the 9th century the Doge of Venice [the provincial governor] was killed, and an estimated two hundred of … The island was repurposed in 1776 as a checkpoint for ships coming and leaving Venice. The small, infamous italian island once hosted thousands of refugee black plague victims, serving as a quarantine island for those who were even suspected of harboring the bacteria, and it seems the island remains one of the most haunted places in Italy. It didn't help when the place was converted into a hospital for the mentally ill in 1922. Renaissance Nun's 'Last Supper' Painting Makes Public Debut After 450 Years in Hiding, In the 1980s, a Far-Left, Female-Led Domestic Terrorism Group Bombed the U.S. Capitol, New Evidence That Grandmothers Were Crucial for Human Evolution, In 1957, The U.S. Flew a Jet Around the World to Prove it Could Drop a Nuclear Bomb Anywhere, Archaeologists in Israel Unearth 3,800-Year-Old Skeleton of Baby Buried in a Jar, Meet Joseph Rainey, the First Black Congressman, The State of American Craft Has Never Been Stronger. The sad but important history of the island is a vital part of the story that came to define one of the most tragic episodes in Venice’s history. For all its unassuming appearance, however, it has a dark history and is said to be one of the most haunted places in Europe, a continent saturated … The ‘Fondamente of the Incurables’. Aside from Poveglia, two other islands were used for quarantine purposes and dumping sites - Lazzaretto Vecchio and Lazzaretto Nuovo. ****************************, Happy Holidays! Fall is my favorite season. Apparently this small abandoned island is haunted!. Image of small, italy, abandoned - 55203223 Photo about Il lazzaretto vecchio in Venice. In a sense, those whispers were somewhat vindicated a short while ago when archaeologists working on the nearby quarantine islands of Lazaretto Nuovo and Lazaretto Vecchio unearthed a mass burial site with the remains of thousands of plague victims. A quarantine island was established in the lagoon at Lazaretto Vecchio in 1408. Haunted Islands of the Venetian Lagoon We recently took advantage of another of the Army's ODR trips and got to visit a couple more of the islands in Venice. Explore the grounds as you learn about the functions of this building during the plague and as a military base. The Italian state is now hoping that offers will arrive to transform the hospital into a luxury hotel under a deal giving the buyer a 99-year lease to redevelop the property, while the island remains the property of the state. It’s illegal to even visit the island and there are no tours that go to that location. But the real reason I love the fall is another, it’s the dark. This island’s very dark history does point to the fact that it is probably haunted but this activity is so interwoven with legend it is difficult to separate the two. He later flung himself off the bell tower. Merry Christmas Eve! Mass graves of plague victims were also found on Poveglia’s neighboring island, Lazzaretto Vecchio, which was considered the first plague colony. It is often stated Poveglia is the most haunted spot in all of Italy. Lazzaretto Vecchio, a small island in the lagoon, was home to the first lazzaretto. It was later used, as were other islands, as a military post. Give a Gift. ... Other stories claim that the tormented souls who suffered on the island haunted him and that his only escape was suicide. See Poveglia Island, considered one of the most haunted islands in the world, and walk the desolate grounds of a plague quarantine building. After a pair of ships carrying plague victims arrived in 1793, the island was sealed off and turned into a quarantine zone for people with infectious diseases, a role it served for over a century. Poveglia Historical and Cultural Tour 3 hours tour – from Tuesday to Sunday Poveglia Historical and Cultural Tour 3 hours tour – from Tuesday to Sunday But the Italian government hopes that somewhere in the world, someone is willing to overlook Hollywood conventions and lease Poveglia Island, an uninhabited island off the coast of Venice that is known for the large numbers of reported hauntings over the years. At the end of the 1700s, after three centuries of operation, both lazzaretti were in terrible conditions, and scarcely fit for purpose. The Lazzaretto Vecchio is an island of the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy, located near the Lido of Venice. Privacy Statement Lazzaretto Vecchio will reportedly host a museum dedicated to plague victims in the near future. 17th Annual Photo Contest Finalists Announced. Lazzaretto Vecchio (the old…) and Nuovo (the new…) were old and insufficient and Poveglia was used as an extension of their activity, Lazzaretto Nouvissimo (the newest…). Rumor has it, the hospital was home to a number of crude lobotomies, performed by a doctor who'd been driven mad by the ghosts. The trouble started back in the late 19th century when Poveglia served as a checkpoint for ships going to Venice. You would think that horror films should have taught people that buying a reportedly haunted property and trying to fix it up is a terrible idea. Lazzaretto Vecchio is not far from Poveglia, and it was the hospital for the sick. Poveglia, a island that can be compared to the size of the Sheep’s Meadow in Central Park or half of Navy Pier in Chicago, is said to be so evil that you’d be hard pressed to find an Italian willing to set foot on the island. Therefore, the only solution was to separate people and Venice introduced a quarantine. No word as to whether to monastary, castle or barracks being auctioned off include their own ghosts. Terms of Use The first stop will be at the former quarantine center, Lazzaretto Vecchio, where between 1403 and 1630 it housed a hospital which cared for people during the plague. Smithsonian Institution. Apr 2, 2016 - Discover Poveglia Plague Island in Venice, Italy: A small island less than half a mile from Venice is a forbidden island with a dark and twisted past. During the Napoleonic period it functioned, as so many other islands did, as a gunpowder magazine (Bonaparte might have wanted to be "an Attila to the state of Venice ", but even he baulked at the idea of building high explosive storage facilities in the centre of a densely … Learn about this home of Venetian legends, myths, and folklore on a private boat tour with an expert guide. Below is the current list of places featured in EXILE (excluding the Priory of Captains, the Pentapolis and the other final destinations). Discover Lazzaretto Vecchio in Lido, Italy: The oldest of Venice's plague quarantine stations, designed to keep the medieval city safe from disease. The island was also a weapons cache for Napoleon’s armies. It covers an area 2.53 hectares (6.3 acres) large. This year has been a difficult on, It’s #worldracletteday! The excursion was advertised as a Haunted Islands tour in honor of Halloween, and we visited Poveglia, Malamocco, and Lazzaretto Vecchio, which I'm pretty sure translates to "old hospital." Home to the dead bodies in the Bubonic Plague, the Poveglia Island is located between Venice and Lido in the Venetian Lagoo, northern Italy. The island first appears in the historical records in 421, and in 1776 the island was used to separate the unhealthy from the healthy. Your first stop will be Lazzaretto Vecchio, originally the site for a hospital from the 15th century until the 17th century to nurse patients during the plague epidemics. 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