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KOED realms: POVEGLIA Category: Uncategorized
KOED- RPI (POVEGLIA ISLAND)
The island first came to be referenced in chronicles in 421 AD, when people
from Padua and Este fled there to escape the barbaric invasions. In the 9th
century the island started to be intensely populated, and in the following centuries
its importance grew steadily, until it was governed by a dedicated
Podest\f3\′e0. There were many wars on Poveglia, as many barbarians still
wanted the people who fled there. In many cases the Poveglians won these wars,
but in 1379 Venice came under attack from the Genoan fleet; the people of
Poveglia were moved to the Giudecca, and the Venetian government built on the
island a permanent fortification, called "the Octagon," still visible
today. The island remained uninhabited in the following centuries; in 1527 the
doge offered the island to the Camaldolese monks, but they refused the offer.
In 1661 the descendants of the original inhabitants were offered to reconstruct
their village on the island, but they refused to do so.\par
In 1777 the island came under the jurisdiction of the Magistrato alla
Sanit\′e0 (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.
In the 20th century the island was again used as a quarantine station, but
in 1922, the existing buildings were converted into an hospital for mentally
ill and long-term care. This went on until 1968, when the hospital was closed,
and the island, after being shortly used for agriculture, was completely
abandoned. Presently, the island is closed to locals and tourists and remains
under Italian government.
In recent times, some legends have arisen about the island. According to
legend, during Roman times it was used to isolate thousands of plague victims,
and during the three occasions when the Black Death spread through Europe, the
island was effectively used as a lazaretto and plague pit \endash it was
considered an efficient way of keeping the infected people separated from the
healthy. According to this version, over 160,000 people died on the island
throughout its history. The island used in 1576 to accommodate those hit by the
plague was not Poveglia, but Lazzaretto Nuovo.
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. The institution in question has been described as a retirement home,
but evidence on the island shows that despite the controversy, at least part of
the building housed mental patients.
The island has been featured on the paranormal reality shows Death in
Venice: Demon Doctor, Ghost Adventures and Scariest Places on Earth.
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