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Monday 28 May 2012

The "scary" Island of Poveglia

I originally heard about the Island of Poveglia through a link to one of those "entertain yourself" websites,in fact have a look yourself: http://www.beembee.com/2010/poveglia-the-island-of-horrors
I read this article with an open mind as i do with all story's,tho as soon as i did read it i of course had to know more.


as soon as i finished reading it i came up with these points that needed to be solved or at least cleared up in my mind. so i of course went to the place all Sceptics go to; that's right you guessed it Wikipedia,according to that post and one of the Islands "folk tales" is as follows "In 1922, a psychiatric hospital was built. It was an imposing building with a magnificent bell tower. The patients immediately reported seeing the ghosts of the plague victims and of hearing whispers echoing off the walls. Their harrowing reports were dismissed, they were already deemed demented and mad." this doctor also acourding to the tale "The hospital was run by a doctor who was very ambitious. He decided to make a name for himself by experimenting on his patients in a bid to discover the cause of their insanity. The doctors methods were crude, lobotomies were performed using a basic hand drill or hammer and chisel. After several years on Poveglia, the doctor himself began seeing the ghosts of the plague victims. It is said they led him to the bell tower, where he threw himself off. According to a nurse, the fall did not kill the doctor as he lay writhing in agony as the base of the tower; a fine mist swirled up around him, entered his body, and choked him to death. It is rumored that he is bricked up in the bell tower, and on a still night the bell can be heard tolling across the bay.

  but according to Wikipedia "In 1777 the island came under the jurisdiction of the Magistrato alla Sanità (Public Health Office), and became a check point for all goods and people coming to and going from Venice by ship. In 1793, there were several cases of the plague on two ships, and consequently the island was transformed into a temporary confinement station for the ill (Lazzaretto); this role became permanent in 1805, under the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte, who also had the old church of San Vitale destroyed; the old bell tower was converted into a lighthouse. The lazzaretto was closed in 1814."
and,

 " Another legend surrounds a building erected in 1922 on the island, which was used for various purposes, including usage as a mental hospital.[4] The legend states that a particular mental health doctor tortured and butchered many of the patients, before going "mad" and jumping to his death from the bell tower. According to that same legend, he survived the fall, but was 'strangled by a mist that came up from the ground'. Its ruins remain to this day.[3] The institution in question has been described as a retirement home,[1][2] but evidence on the island shows that despite the controversy, at least part of the building housed mental patients"

So first of all the grand evil lobotomy doc of death *insert evil laugh and hunchback henchman here* didnt build the looming clock tower nor was it actually a clock tower when he  died,so unless you can hear an eerie foghorn (which from a ghost story point of view i think is better) late at night. And it also states it was a retirment home that housed some mental patients,only "SOME" plus this was 1922 meaning what they define as "insane" is very diffrent from what we would call it.


so why is it "closed to the public!" to hold the ghosts? or to "keep us safe?" ,Well i dont beleive so,tho it may be driven by supersition, it mainly might be apart from some ruins it is a large plague pit. but i leave it up to you to decide what you want to beleive in. I just see it as a lovely Island that sadly has been turned to ruins and thanks to storys made into "scary" island.


REFRENCES
WIKIPEDIA
BEEMBEE

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