Poveglia Island, Italy

In the water near Venice sits Poveglia Island, a curious place on the whole. The island has clearly been modified by humans - it has far too many straight lines and smooth curves in it's outline to be completely natural - as both a place of residence and as a military fort, and later as a waiting station for ships entering Venice and finally as a hospital. Stories hold that Romans used the island as a quarantine station for plague victims, and that  the same was done with victims of the black plague, whose bodies were then buried in plague pits (mass graves of plague victims) on the island. Many of the bodies are said to have been burned, and it has been claimed that the ashes have created a distinctive dust on the island. These stories hold that over 160,000 people died over the course of the island's history. And the presence of the dead is said to still lurk on the island, making it a dark and forboding place approached only by the brave. Typically non-specific stories of strange shadows, disembodied voices, and shoves (or even blows) from unseen assailants abound.

Oh, and the pits in which the remains were placed is said to be below an area that was once used for growing wine grapes.  How's that for a strange vintage?

Legends further state that a building constructed in the 1920s housed psychiatric patients, who were overseen by a very literal mad scientist - a psychiatrist who performed cruel experiments upon his charges, and performed other additional acts of cruelty with no pretense towards research. He is also said to have performed neurosurgery with crude tools such as hammers and chisels. It is said that this psychiatrist eventually completely snapped after telling other hospital employees that he had encountered ghosts, climbed the bell tower (in which some stories hold he had performed his grisly work), and flung himself towards the ground. He survived the fall, but a white mist (possibly composed of ashes) rose from the ground, and enveloped and strangled the psychiatrist.

In addition to the torments inflicted on them by this psychiatrist, the patients are also said to have seen ghosts of Roman and Renaissance plague bearers, and to have heard disturbing whispers emanating from the walls of the building.

One story holds that the last people who attempted to settle on the island was a family that had been granted permission to build a vacation home. After the home was completed, they cut their first night short when their daughter was attacked "by something" and had her face split open, requiring 20 stitches.

And, of course, stories hold that the evil psychiatrist was interred in the bell tower, and that people in Venice can hear the bell tolling at night.

Sleep well, Venetians!

Commentary: Supernatural claims aside, Poveglia has an interesting history. In the early 5th century, people from Padua and Este settled on the island, fleeing from the barbaric invasions unfortunately common in Italy during the late Roman Empire. people continued to settle on the island, and over the centuries, a series of structures were built as the town formed.
In 1379, Venice and Genoa went to war, and the people of the island were removed as the island was converted for military use. A fort known as "the Octagon" was built, and the island become the home of a proper medieval town, but it was abandoned in the 14th century.

A couple of sources hold that in 1576, when the Black Death hit Venice, and the local authorities took the bodies of victims to Poveglia to dump them into mass graves, as well as a dumping ground for the bodies. But it appears to be the case that it was not Poveglia, but another island was used for quarantine. Mass graves of plague victims were pretty common throughout Europe during outbreaks, and in a place like Venice, where land is at a premium, an uninhabited island would be a good dumping ground, but it does appear that it was another island that was used and not Poveglia (though, I would not be surprised if documentation surfaced indicating that this island was also used).

Two hundred years later, in 1777, the island came under the jurisdiction of the Magistrato alla Sanita (or, as we'd call it in English, the Public Health Department), and it became a check point for ships entering and leaving Venice. In 1793, cases of plague were identified on two ships, and the island was used as a quarantine station for those who were suffering illness, and lodgings built. Napoleon Bonaparte made this function permanent in 1804, but the lodgings were demolished in 1814. It was again used as a quarantine station in the early 20th century.

And then, in 1922, the hospital was built to provide long-term care to the mentally ill. The construction of isolated hospitals for the mentally ill or those carrying contagious diseases was not uncommon in the late 19th and early 20th century, and many such hospitals (including one off shore from New York City) were built at that time. Naturally, many of these locations are now reputed to be haunted.

The hospital was eventually converted to a retirement home/convalescent hospital (or may have had one as part of it from the get-go, the sources are inconsistent on this point), but even it appears to have shut down in 1968. That said, what descriptions I could find of the latter days of the place make it sound amazingly pleasant.

Given this history, it's only natural that the island is home to a whole host of ghost stories. Even for Venice, a place that boasts more than its share of ghost stories, this place is invitingly creepy. The place is officially off-limits...but a quick Google search reveals that so many people have managed to spend the night there that the ban is clearly poorly enforced. This has, therefore, become quite the destination for legend trippers.

That said, the identities of the victims of ghostly violence always seem to be obscured. It's "the last family to settle here", not "John and Marsha Smith, who built a cabin in 1977." This is often a sign of the story being more non-specific urban legend than truth.

The only thing that amazes me is that there has been no horror movie, as of yet.




Note: Some great photos of the island are available here.  And if you are wealthy, you might just have a chance to buy the island.

Sources: Messy Nessy Chic, Wikipedia, Mental Floss, Gizmodo, news.com.au

Fake Haunting in Italy

So, this one is unique..well, probably not in the general situation, but the person being caught is unique.  Someone faked a hauntin at a medieval castle...for revenge, apparently.

From the Article:

A real-life Scooby-Doo villain has been jailed in Italy for four months for pretending to be a ghost.

She spent weeks terrorising her husband's employer at the 15th-century Castel Coldrano near the border with Austria, slamming doors, haunting hallways and making things go bump in the night.

For once, I have no commentary.  This one is pretty straightforward in the telling, though no doubt somewhat weirder when the details come out, as the eventually will.  The woman, a 42-year old Polish national, was caught by police after the property's owner (her husband's employer, according to the article) called the police and asked for their assistance.

It is somewhat reminiscent of the situation at the Rispin Mansion in Capitola, except in Capitola, the goal was to scare off vandals and here it was, apparently, to terrify the castle's owner.


Source:  Newspaper

Paganini's Phantom Violin

Niccolo Paganini was such an influential and flamboyant violinist that even a century and a half after his death I heard him referred to frequently as I learned to play rock guitar music. His technical mastery of the instrument was the stuff of legends, inspiring musicians proficient on stringed instruments to push themselves for greater and greater degrees of virtuosity in their playing. Paganini's playing and ability to put on a great show was so well known that even a century later it would serve as the inspiration of his musical descendants when rock and roll guitar playing became a highly technical form of performance in the 1970s. Guitarists ranging from Yngwie Malmsteen to Eddie Van Halen to Steve Vai and Joe Satriani all owe a debt to this early master of highly proficient stage showmanship.

Paganini's biography is a mix of the self-destructive superstar story that we tend to think only belongs in the post-1950s music scene with elements of pure invention that were either developed to denounce him, or that were promoted by him because they were good for business.

Paganini was born in Genoa, Italy in 1782. The strange course of his life was probably set early on when he suffered from measles and was thought dead*. Placed in a burial shroud, he was nearly buried, but was discovered to be alive at the last minute. In time, it would come to be rumored that his mother had been assured by an angel that her son would become the greatest violinist in the world, while another rumor held that his mother had made a pact with Satan to ensure her son's greatness.

Paganini's first violin teacher was his father, a man with a reputation for strictness and harshness towards his son. From there, he was taught by Giovanni Servetto and Giacomo Costa and showed such talent that he was composing his own impressive pieces of music as early as the age of eight. He continued to progress under ever-greater teachers. Those who doubt that an angel or demon assured Paganini's mother of his greatness often claim that it was during his teenage years that Paganini himself made a pact with Satan to ensure his status as a great violinist.

Leaving his home, Paganini soon discovered that he could make a living for himself as a concert violinist, and he abandoned his father, who had become increasingly harsh towards his son. He soon found himself in a position very much like a modern rock star - money was available, as were drink and willing women. He cultivated a distinctive appearance, with shoulder-length hair, a gaunt body, and frequent black suits, he is said to have been frightening to behold. He Became a compulsive gambler, and only stopped gambling when he nearly lost a valuable violin that a friend had given him as a gift. He seduced women whenever possible, though there is evidence that he spent time living with a noble woman with whom he had fallen in love (and during this time he vanished for a period of four years).

Although people continued to pay to see him play, they also began to spread stories about him. In addition to the claims of his or his mother's pact with Satan, a story that he was the son of a demon began to circulate, and at least one concert-goer claimed to have seen Satan helping Paganini play. It's been claimed that people would cross themselves when they saw Paganini in the streets, and that men in London would poke him with their canes to determine whether he was real or supernatural (I'm guessing that these were handy paranormal-detection canes...they just don't make 'em like they used to). Needless to say, just as rumors of Satanic influence helped KISS and Ozzy Osbourne, they were of great financial benefit to Paganini as well. He may or may not have encouraged these types of stories, but he certainly benefited from them.

Paganini finally died in 1840, at the age of 57. Either because of the controversies that surrounded him in life or because he refused last rites before death, the church refused to allow his body to be buried on consecrated ground. The body was temporarily interred in an abandoned leper house (or, according to some accounts, his family's basement or even an olive oil factory), where passing fishermen claim to have heard the sounds of a violin playing, moving Paganini's story out of the realm of flamboyant showman and celebrity and into the realm of the ghost story. His body was later moved Parma, where some stories hold that the violin music was still heard until he was buried in the Parma cemetery two years later. In 1926, his remains were moved to his native Genoa.


*I often hear people dismiss measles as a harmless childhood disease, usually because they take issue with medicines used to prevent or treat measles, but the truth of the matter is that it can be deadly.


Commentary: I have known about Paganini for over twenty years, and I have still never been able to get over just how much his life and career might have served as the blueprint for those of so many 20th century musicians. The claims of Satanic influence would show up with 70s and 80s metal and continue today with Marylin Manson. The story of having made pact with Satan to gain a literally supernatural ability on his chosen instrument was later used by the great Bluesman Robert Johnson (who specifically added that he had met the Devil at a crossroads). His taste for fast living, womanizing, and gambling would also figure heavily in the stories of so many of the 20th centuries music superstars.

The story of his phantom music playing at his first burial-place is interesting for two reasons. The first is that the reasons given for the treatment of his remains vary, and may reflect either the politics or the religion of his day. Sometimes it is said that he was refused proper burial at first because he had led a life of sin (what with the gambling and womanizing), sometimes it is said that he was refused proper burial because of his rumored pact with Satan, and sometimes it is said that he was refused burial because he had refused last rites.

The most likely explanation is that either he was refused proper burial because he had refused last rites (reportedly because he thought that he wasn't yet dying), or that this was used as a technicality to deny burial to a figure who had generated a good deal of controversy. Of course, most of the less-researched (and more sensationalistic) sources hold that he was refused burial because of his alleged demonic ties, but this seems a little far-fetched (though it does make for a great story).

The other interesting thing about the phantom music is that it appears to be symbolic of Paganini not being at rest. It is said that the music played when he had not been buried in consecrated ground, wherever that may have been (next to a factory, in a leper house, in his family's basement, etc.), and that the music was mournful. The music is not reputed to be heard after the body has been moved to a "proper" place of burial. In this sense, it seems to be indicative of the religion of the time, with Paganini suffering until his remains are treated correctly and buried in ground consecrated by the Roman Catholic church.

I wish I could have provided more information on Paganini, he was a fascinating character, but for the purposes of this site, it seemed necessary to provide enough information to give the necessary flavor before cutting to the ghost story and supernatural elements. But I encourage you to follow the links below and learn more about him. Trust me, you'll be glad that you did.


Sources: BBC Website, Guitarra Magazine, About.com, Suite 101, Time Magazine, Internet