Creepy Island Povela

In the north of Italy, in the Venetian lagoon near the island of Lido, is the abandoned island of Poveglia (Italian: Poveglia). Once it was built up with buildings and people lived there, but after a whole series of deaths and misfortunes, the Italians began to avoid the island, which is only two nautical miles from the heart of Venice – the Grand Canal.
From afar, Povela seems cozy and habitable: it is underlined by the lush green of the trees, the embankment, and the elegant spire of the church bell tower. But it is worthwhile for a person to set foot on an island, as horror and confusion embrace him. Even those who do not know anything about Povela have discomfort on the island, so what about those who are familiar with the bloody and mysterious history of this corner of Italy.
The island was first mentioned in the chronicles of 421, when the inhabitants of Padua and Este fled to it, fleeing from the invasion of barbarians. After 900 years, fortifications were erected on Povela, which have survived to the present day. Then the authorities of Venice tried to give the island to the monks and sell them on preferential terms, but all in vain – for some reason they did not find those who wanted to live there.
For more than a century, this small piece of Venetian land was abandoned, deserted and unclaimed. That all changed when a plague epidemic hit Europe. It was then that they remembered Poveglia: seriously ill people were brought to the island in order to isolate the healthy inhabitants of Venice.
In order to minimize the risk, their families were brought along with the infected, even if they showed no signs of illness. Sending to Commander meant the inevitable death in agony. Often the bodies of the dead were piled with the living into common grave pits and burned.
Venetians claim that the lush vegetation of Povelia was rooted in the ashes of countless human remains – up to 160,000 people died on the island. The souls of many of the dead as if turned into ghosts, which are now crowded island.
The island’s grim reputation is exacerbated by tales of horrific experiments that patients in a psychiatric clinic allegedly existed from 1922 to 1968 allegedly underwent. According to some reports, all the experiments on patients were led by the chief physician of this hospital, who, after all, himself went mad and committed suicide by jumping from the bell tower. In this regard, researchers of paranormal phenomena called the island one of the most terrible places on Earth.
This island is called differently: “the gates of hell”, “the shelter of lost souls”, “garbage from pure fear”. Venetians are doing everything possible to refute the terrible rumors about Powel and the question about the island just smile sweetly, saying that it is a great place to relax or a fashionable resort.
However, neither the locals nor the vacationers from other parts of Italy are in a hurry to approach the shores of Povela, since most Italians are extremely superstitious. But perhaps the rumors that Povela is full of ghosts that can drive anyone crazy, yet have a foundation.
Today’s island of Povela is a gloomy place with dilapidated houses, dilapidated stone stairs and thickets of wild grapes. No one has been living on the island since 1968, when the last person left the building of a psychiatric clinic.
In 2014, the Italian government decided to lease the island for 99 years. It is assumed that the hospital building will be turned into a hotel. And lovers of mystics who want to “tickle your nerves” will be able to spend the night at a party with ghosts.