Poveglia Island · The Island No One Is Allowed to Live On

The island of Poveglia lies in the Venetian Lagoon. In the late eighteenth century it served as a plague quarantine station: arriving ships stopped here first, the sick were carried ashore, and many never came down again, their bodies piled up and burned.

In the twentieth century a mental hospital opened on the island, and it is said that one of its doctors later took his own life. The hospital closed in 1968, and the island has stood empty since; several government auctions failed to turn it into anything.

Italians say the island “belongs to no one.” Fishermen steer around it when they pass.

Haunted Ruins / Venice · Italy / 1793