has deemed it illegal to
visit the island under any circumstances
which makes getting permission as well
as getting to it extremely difficult.
Even with its crumbling buildings, old
wooden shutters falling off ancient
hinges and ivy creeping its way into
rooms, there is a morbid beauty in the
decay. The terracotta roofs of buildings
which have collapsed, in part bringing
old reed and mud style plaster ceilings
crashing to the tiled and stone slab
floors are but some of remnants of the
old asylum. The bell tower, long bricked
up, stands imposingly over the site
including the former hospital, asylum,
prison and small chapel. On the other
side of the island a footpath leads to the
devils’ bridge and, of course, the plague
burning grounds. The ruins which
throughout history have been marked by
death and destruction are eerily silent,
the air feels thick and heavy, it’s enough
to put even the most experienced
paranormal investigator on edge.
Darkness fills the crevices of
the buildings; the pathways
and cluttered corridors of the
hospital are like a scene from a
horror movie, leaving much to
the imagination. The feeling of
eyes watching your every move
never fades. With each step
you take towards the centre of
the island, the energy becomes
more and more oppressive,
engulfing you in an intense
haze of fear and anxiety.Approaching the island, the
first thing you see is the
looming bell tower and the
housing block. It’s the most
visible and one of the oldest
structures on the island,
the only remnant of a 12th-
century church that was
abandoned and destroyed
hundreds of years ago.
The tower was turned into
a lighthouse in the 18th
century, and now serves no
purpose other than as a landmark.Next you see the island’s octagonal
battlement, known as “the octagon,”
which was built in the 14th century to
repel Genoese invaders. In addition
to the countless others who are
supposed to have met their untimely
ends on Poveglia, the octagon was
used by English soldiers during the
Napoleonic wars to ambush French
commandos. Prisoners were taken
ashore and burned. Destroyed French
ships still decorate the bottom of the
lagoon around the octagon.As majority of the entrances to the
island have now been boarded up,
we circled the island several times
prior to finding a suitable place to
dock and yet not the safest. Our
boat captain informed us that we
had only received
permission to be
on the island for ashort
amount of time, no more than 5 hours.
Personally, I believe the fear of its
reputation had our captain a little
unnerved and wanting to get the hell
out of there as soon as possible.Our guide led us on to the island, as we
crawled through a hole in the fence,
she pointed out that several buildings
would be completely off limits as the
ceilings could collapse at any second.
This was not my first visit to Poveglia
and certainly will not be my last. Eager
to get started on investigating and
documenting as much as we could, a
few of us decided to try a burst EVP
session in one of the main asylum
buildings. I grabbed my headphones,
explained to our guide what an EVP
session was and proceeded to live
listen to the session.