Poveglia is an uninhabited island in the Venetian lagoon, not far from the port of Malamocco, divided into three parts. One of them is very particular, the smaller part called "Octagon" because of its geometric shape. At present, Poveglia is closed to the public and looks very degraded. Tourism is further discouraged by the ghost stories that have been handed down and spread all over the world.

The history of Poveglia: a strategic position

In the past, the island of Poveglia was called "Popilia" and served as a refuge for those fleeing the dangers of enemy invasions. In the 6th century, those who managed to escape the Lombard invasion took refuge there. The refugees turned the island into a village and used a castle to defend the Duchy of Venice from the attack of the Franks between 809 and 810.

After the war, the islanders were exempted from taxes and military conscription as compensation for their service. In the 9th century it was a refuge for the families of 200 servants loyal to Pietro Tradonico, Doge of the Serenissima, who was murdered by his opponents while leaving the church of San Zaccaria with his son Giovanni. The latter received from his successor Orso I Partecipazio lands and valleys and the right to have a ducal castaldo as governor.

The plague reaches the island of Poveglia.

The population of Poveglia lived mainly from fishing and salt production. The center became economically important and grew in strategic importance. During the War of Chioggia, between 1378 and 1381, the Venetians took up arms against the Republic of Genoa, resulting in the evacuation of the population to make it a military outpost. Admiral Pietro Doria, after an attack by the Genoese forces, managed to occupy the outpost and used it to bombard several buildings, including the monastery of Santo Spirito. After the war, taking advantage of its proximity to the port of Malamocco, the island became a staging point for the inspection of ships' cargoes.

It then dramatically transformed into a place for the isolation of people suffering from contagious and incurable diseases such as the plague. The first landing of infected people was in 1793: a Greek ship with 30 plague-stricken sailors on board, only 18 of whom managed to recover. A second landing occurred in 1799: a Spanish ship with 8 plague-infected sailors on board, who lost their lives, leaving no survivors.

Ghost stories and Poveglia's macabre reputation

At the beginning of the 20th century, a rest home for the elderly was opened, which, according to local rumors, served instead as a psychiatric hospital. It was rumored that patients there were subjected to experiments and torture. The director of this hospital, tormented by their restless spirits, went so mad that he committed suicide by throwing himself from the bell tower of the ancient church of San Vitale. The nurse who witnessed the tragic event claimed in an interview that the man was already dead before he fell and that what killed him was not the impact after the fall, but that he was suffocated by a strange mist rising from the ground.

Over the years, curious visitors who have managed to land in these spooky places have claimed to have seen ghosts roaming the hospital corridors and to have heard voices and moans. All the stories and urban legends about this place began after the arrival on the island of five U.S. boys who were intent on searching for ghosts and asked for help from nearby boats because they were frightened by what they called evil spirits haunting the island.

CICAP takes a stand on ghost stories.

Despite the legends, the Italian Committee for the Control of Claims on Pseudosciences (CICAP), denies the presence of ghosts. Remember that there were only two landings of plague patients on the island and that, in any case, other islands in the Venetian lagoon also housed psychiatric hospitals (remember San Clemente, for example). Ghost stories are plausibly suggested by movies and documentaries that have told Poveglia from a ghostly perspective.

Poveglia is an uninhabited island in the Venetian lagoon, not far from the port of Malamocco, and is shown in three parts. One of them is very particular, the smallest one, called "Octagon" because of its geometric shape. Today Poveglia is closed to the public and looks very degraded. Tourism is further discouraged by the ghost stories that have been handed down and spread throughout the world.

Strategies for the recovery of the island

In 1968, the island became state property and free public access was prohibited. However, those who wish to visit Poveglia can still access the island with the permission of the City of Venice or by using private boats.

However, being an uninhabited place, the existing buildings are in ruins and therefore dangerous. The same bell tower mentioned in the macabre story is without hands, and the surviving works that used to be in the church now adorn other lodgings.