Island of Poveglia

Introduction

Poveglia is a small island located between Venice and Lido in the Venetian Lagoon in northern Italy, where a small canal separates the island into two parts.  Historical reference records the island in 421 until residents fled warfare in 1379.  The island was quarantined in 1776 for people suffering the plague and other diseases for 100 years or more, and eventually becoming a mental hospital (the island is often seen in paranormal shows).  The mental hospital island closed in 1968 and  has been vacant since.

History

Poveglia first became inhabited by people from Padua and Este fleeing from barbarian invasions.  The island’s population grew steadily in the 9^th century until being governed by Podesta, where Venice was attack from a Geneon fleet causing the people of Poveglia to be moved to Guidecca.

Remaining uninhabited, in 1527, the doge offered the island to Camaldolese monks, but they refused the offer.  Then in 1645, the Venetian government built five octagonal forts that protect and control the lagoon.  The Poveglia Octagon is one of four that remain today.

The island came under jurisdiction of Magistrato alla Sanita (Public Health Office) in 1776.  This was a checkpoint for goods and people coming and going from Venice by ship.  In 1793 saw several cases of plague and the island was made into a temporary confinement station for those who were ill (lazaretto).  It was a permanent role in 1805 under Napolean Bonaparte, who had the old church of San Vitale destroyed and the old bell-tower converted to a lighthouse.  The lazaretto closed in 1814.

The island was used as a quarantine station in the 20^th century, but instead in 1922 the buildings that remained were converted to a mentally ill asylum for the mentally ill and long-term care.  Closing in 1968, the island was used for a short time as agriculture and then abandoned.

2014 saw the Italian state auctioning a 99-year lease of Poveglia hoping to raise revenue that would redevelop the hospital into a luxury hotel.  Italian businessman Luigi Brugnaro had the highest bid, but the project did not proceed amid not meeting the conditions.

Buildings and Structures

Surviving buildings on Poveglia include a cavana, a church, a hospital, an asylum, a bell-tower and housing and administrative buildings for staff.  The bell-tower—the most visible structure—dates back to the 12^th century and belongs to the destroyed church of San Vitale.  The tower was re-used as a lighthouse.

The asylum on Poveglia, confirmed by the sign “Reparto Psichiatria” (Psychiatric Department) is visible among the derelict buildings by Ransom Riggs who photographed the building during his May 2010 photh-essay.  There doesn’t seem to be any evidence of any prison on the ilsland.

A bridge connects the island and given over to trees and fields.  The octagonal fort on the third separate island, next to the island with the buildings, and unconnected.  The fort consists of an earthen rampart faced on the outside with brick.

The island is said to contain many plague pits where it is estimated that 100,000 people died on the island over many centuries.

Popular Culture

After Poveglia had been turned into a quarantine station for ships arriving in Venice during the 18^th century, two ships were discovered with a plague.  Sealing off the island, it hosted people with infectious diseases, where terminally ill Venetians waiting to die before their ghosts returned to haunt the island.

In 1922, the island became the home of a mental hospital where a doctor allegedly experimented on patients using crude lobotomies.  He threw himself from the hospital tower after allegedly being driven mad by ghosts.  The island has been seen on such paranormal shows Ghost Adventures and Scariest Places on Earth.

The island was also featured in the Alex Rider series Anthony Horowitz as “Malagosto”, the main assassin training centre for SCORPIA.

The dark Polish graphic novel by Roman Pietraszko (art) and Madiej Kur (script), “Zyjesz?” (“Are You Alive?”) is set on the island of Poveglia during the Plague and centers around a sick girl and boy who attempt to escape the island amidst being hunted by plague doctors.

An island inspired by Poveglia is the main location in the Sandman graphic noel Endless Nights, the first story Death and Venice.  The island is owned by a 18^th century nobleman and alchemist, who finds a way to shield his palazzo, himself and his guests from the ravages of time only to repeat the same day over and over.  The narrator visits the island as a boy and later as an adult where it has been abandoned and haunted.

Book #r titled, “After the Cure,” is a series of post-apocalyptic novels by Dierdre . Gould.  Like the preceding 3 books, Poveglia is set in the world ravaged by quasi-zombie plague of “The Infected” and takes place 8 years after the initial outbreak.  By now, a cure has been developed and administered and those infected are now immune and coexisting in the only remaining civilized city.

Linda Medley’s graphic novel Castle Waiting shows Poveglia as “The Island of No Return,” with the character Dr. Fell driven mad while attempting to treat plague victims.

Laurie R. King’s novel “Island of the Mad” shows Poveglia as the hiding place for group of women escaping Fascist regime, using ghost stories of the island to cover and keep unwanted visitors away.