September 2019: Journey to Poveglia Island

An Obsession with Haunted Places

Haunted places have always fascinated me, and when I first learned about Poveglia Island, I knew I had found the ultimate destination. Often described as one of the most haunted places on Earth, the tiny island’s dark reputation stretches back centuries.

A Dark History

Poveglia’s story begins in Venetian times, when the island was used as a quarantine station during plague outbreaks. It is believed that up to 160,000 people were sent there to die. Later, in the 20th century, the island became the site of a mental asylum, where legend claims a sadistic doctor tortured his patients before meeting a grisly end himself. These layers of suffering and death have given Poveglia its infamous reputation.

Making the Trip Happen

To visit this so-called Mecca of scary places, I arranged a multi-day stopover in Venice while returning from travels through South Ossetia and Moscow, Russia. My goal was clear: to set foot on Poveglia and experience firsthand the chilling atmosphere of one of the world’s most notorious haunted islands.

The Dark History of Poveglia Island

A Venetian Fortress

In the 1600s, Poveglia was fortified by the Venetians, who used the island as a military outpost to help protect the lagoon and defend Venice from naval threats.

A Quarantine Island

During the Black Plague, Poveglia took on a far darker role. The island became a quarantine station where up to 160,000 plague victims were sent to be buried or cremated in massive plague pits. Many were abandoned there while still alive, left to die among the dead and dying. So many bodies were burned that it is said the very soil of Poveglia is now composed of 50 percent human ash.

A Napoleonic Outpost

Centuries later, Napoleon’s troops used the island to store munitions, and battles were fought on its shores. The echoes of war added yet another layer of violence to its already grim history.

The Asylum Years

In 1922, Poveglia became home to an asylum for the mentally ill. Legends tell of a deranged surgeon who performed horrific experiments and lobotomies on patients without anesthesia. According to the story, he eventually went mad himself and leapt from the asylum’s bell tower to his death.

Abandonment

The asylum closed decades later, leaving the island deserted. Since then, Poveglia has remained abandoned, its decaying buildings slowly being reclaimed by nature.

Failed Attempts at Renewal

In recent years, multiple groups have tried to purchase and redevelop Poveglia, with plans to build hotels or luxury resorts. Since 2014, however, the island has remained untouched, its haunted reputation and eerie atmosphere seemingly resistant to change.

Red Pin is the Location of Poveglia island in Venice lagoon

Legends and Ghost Stories

Poveglia Island is widely believed to be haunted, both by ghost hunters and by locals who avoid it. The island is steeped in legend and superstition, its stories blending fact and fiction in ways that are impossible to separate. God only knows what is real and what isn’t—but everyone loves a good ghost story, and I am no exception.

The Challenge of Reaching Poveglia

Visiting Poveglia is not as simple as booking a ticket. The island is officially off-limits, and anyone caught trespassing risks arrest. Add to this its sinister reputation, and most boatmen in Venice flatly refuse to take people there. The combination of legal restrictions and bad vibes makes it notoriously difficult to reach.

Finding a Way

Knowing this, I enlisted a friend who had recently attended a wedding in Venice to ask around for any gondoliers or boatmen who might be willing to take me. After some persistence, he found a Venetian man willing to make the trip—though with one condition: he would not set foot on the island with us. Once we arrived, we would be completely on our own.

The Gateway: Venice

Of course, reaching Poveglia first requires a stop in Venice itself. Venice is one of the most magical cities I have ever visited, with its history, canals, and Renaissance architecture creating an atmosphere unlike anywhere else. Despite the heavy crowds—even during the supposed offseason when I visited in November—the city was enchanting, and well worth the detour.

Ghosts of Poveglia

Poveglia Island remains the final resting place for over one hundred thousand souls, and many are believed to still wander the island. Ghost hunters often describe some of these spirits as malignant.

The Mad Surgeon

The most infamous of all is said to be the spirit of the mad surgeon who once tortured his patients in the mental asylum. According to legend, the ghosts of those he tormented rose up in revenge and pushed him from the top of the bell tower. When he survived the fall, a nurse watching reported that a black mist enveloped his body and suffocated the last breath of life from him.

Failed Attempts at Settlement

Given the island’s grim past, it is little surprise that Poveglia has become known as one of the most haunted places on Earth. In recent years, investors have purchased the island and attempted to restore or develop it, but each effort has ended abruptly. One family fled after claiming their daughter had been attacked by a dark entity. A renovation project that once surrounded the buildings with scaffolding was abandoned without explanation, leaving the ruins to crumble back into nature.

Tales from Explorers

From time to time, curious ghost hunters and urban explorers attempt to visit the island, some even daring to spend the night. Many have fled in terror before dawn. One group of Americans had to be evacuated by authorities after insisting they were being tormented by demonic spirits. Stories like these only add to Poveglia’s sinister reputation and the lingering sense that the dead are not at rest.

Setting Out for Poveglia

Our gondolier was a native Venetian, one of the few who still lived in the old city. We had agreed on a quiet meeting point along one of the canals, where he waited with his motorized boat.

The Plan

My friends and I hired him on an hourly basis, with the understanding that we would spend the afternoon on Poveglia and stay until nightfall. The idea of watching darkness descend over the haunted island was irresistible.

A Race Against the Tides

There was, however, one serious risk. If we lingered too long, the lagoon’s tides would fall, leaving the water too shallow for the boat to navigate back to Venice. Staying past that point meant one thing—being stranded overnight on an island infamous for its restless dead.

Venice Canals

Venice Canals

The Journey Across the Lagoon

The ride to Poveglia took about an hour. We set off in the afternoon, gliding past the islands of Lazaretto Nuovo and Lazzaretto Vecchio—both known for their own plague pits and dark histories. It felt like a slow passage through layers of Venetian ghosts, each island whispering its own story of death and disease.

First Glimpse of Poveglia

When we finally approached Poveglia, the sky was heavy with overcast clouds, casting the island in a gray, foreboding light. The weather could not have set a more fittingly eerie mood for our arrival.

More Concern for Police than Ghosts

Surprisingly, my greatest concern wasn’t the ghosts but the authorities. Visiting Poveglia is illegal, and the threat of being caught by police or security was very real. But as we scanned the island, there were no signs of guards or patrols. Aside from a lone boat of high school kids drifting nearby, drinking beer and smoking weed, the lagoon was deserted.

Dropped at the Dock

Our gondolier steered the boat to the island’s old dock, dropped us off, and then pushed back into the lagoon. He would wait for us just offshore, leaving us alone to explore the haunted island at our own risk.

Our gondolier boat

Do not enter sign

Old wooden boat dock

Poveglia Island

First Steps on Poveglia

As we stepped onto the dock, the group of high school kids nearby waved and called out. One of them shouted, asking if I was afraid of the phantismos—the Italian word for ghosts. Their laughter echoed across the water as they drifted away, leaving us truly alone with the island.

Signs of Warning

No trespassing signs were scattered around the dock area, half-hidden in the brush or nailed to decaying posts. Abandoned scaffolding still clung to some of the buildings, a remnant of a renovation project long since deserted. The sense of neglect was overwhelming, as if the island itself resisted any attempt to be reclaimed.

The Bell Tower

Towering above us was the island’s most infamous landmark—the bell tower. According to legend, this was where the asylum’s mad surgeon either jumped or was pushed to his death. Locals say the bell sometimes tolls on its own, a ghostly sound that chills anyone who hears it. While we were there, the bell remained silent, looming over us like a watchful sentinel.

Poveglia Island-Bell Tower in Foreground

Abandoned scaffolding on the side of some buildings

Bushwhacking through overgrown vegetation

Into the Ruins

Exploring Poveglia was no easy walk. We battled through thick scrub and thorny overgrowth, pushing past collapsed walls and heaps of debris. Much of it likely contained asbestos, rusted nails, and sharp metal edges—reminders of just how hazardous this place really was. The buildings themselves were unstable, leaning and crumbling as if ready to collapse at any moment.

The Thrill of Decay

Yet despite the risks, or maybe because of them, we loved every second of it. Every step deeper into the ruins felt like peeling back another layer of the island’s haunted history, a raw and unfiltered adventure in one of the most forbidden places in the world.

Nature Reclaiming the buildings

Eerie doorway

Chapel room

Random bathtub outside a building 

What might have been another chapel

Climbing the Bell Tower

We made our way to the bell tower, the structure most closely tied to the legend of the mad surgeon. The tower loomed above the ruins, its hollow windows staring down like empty eyes.

A Treacherous Ascent

The staircase inside wound upward for several flights, but many of the steps were missing. In some places, entire sections of the floor had collapsed, leaving gaping holes where one wrong step could send you plummeting to the rusted rebar below. The climb was dangerous, every step demanding focus and care.

Graffiti and Ghosts

Along the walls, graffiti in Italian covered the crumbling plaster. Much of it was scrawled with references to ghosts and demons, and even a few pentagrams. It was obvious that local kids had broken in, using the tower for parties, dares, and maybe even their own ghost-hunting adventures.

Delipated stairs we climbed

Further Exploration of the ruins

Lost in the Overgrowth

There were no real trails across Poveglia. The forest between the ruins was so thick that at one point we became separated from each other. It felt like the setup to every horror movie—friends split up, each swallowed by the overgrown remains of a haunted island.

Something in the Woods

Although no one lives on Poveglia and we had seen no signs of other visitors, the silence was occasionally broken by strange noises. Once, as I was pushing through the brush alone, I heard a loud crack and glimpsed a large dark shape moving quickly through the forest.

We had seen and heard rabbits darting around earlier, but this was something much larger. My first thought was a homeless person, though it seemed unlikely. Whatever it was, it disappeared before I could get a closer look, leaving only questions and a lingering sense of unease.

Ominous hallway

Nature reclaiming the ruins

Nature reclaiming the ruins

Wes exploring 

One of the creepier rooms with a bad vibe 

Alone in the Darkness

At one point I broke away from the group and wandered into some of the smaller rooms. By then the sun had mostly set, and the interiors were cloaked in complete darkness. The air felt heavy, and every sound seemed amplified by the silence.

A Creepy Atmosphere

I’ll admit, there was an undeniable chill in the atmosphere, the kind of darkness that presses in on you and makes your imagination run wild. I never saw anything that I could honestly call supernatural, but at times I felt a prickling sense—almost like a spider sense—that something unseen was watching me.

Rational Explanations

In the end, I chalked it up to the setting itself. Any place with this kind of history, combined with decaying ruins and nightfall, is bound to stir the imagination. Still, the eerie feeling lingered as I stepped back out into the fading light.

An area that contains industrial sized dryers that we thought were cremation ovens at first

Leaving Poveglia

I had really wanted to spend the night on Poveglia, but between the tidal fluctuations and our busy schedule—San Marino awaited us the next day—we had to settle for staying only until after dark. None of us saw any ghosts, but we all agreed the experience was unforgettable. When we were ready to leave, we waved down our gondolier, who returned to collect us before the tide dropped too low.

Back Through the Lagoon

The ride back to Venice was its own adventure. We glided through narrow canals, under bridges, and even through a tunnel beneath a building. The city seemed to transform in the dark, taking on a more mysterious and magical quality.

Ghosts of Venice

In my opinion, nighttime is the best time to see Venice. After returning, I left my friends behind and purposely lost myself in the maze of alleyways and canals. It was in these quiet, shadowy corners that Venice’s own ghosts seemed to stir, whispering their stories from centuries past.

Venice at night

Venice at night

Venice canal tunnel

Old church