HAUNTED ISLAND
The magnificent beauty of Venice, is in stark contrast to what lies in it's horrid south lagoon,....................................
Poveglia,...............the "Island of the Dammed."
The history of the island screams out in despair for what has taken place here. The macabre island has been a grim host to bloody wars, grisly murders, massive tsunamis that wiped out multitudes, a holding pen for those infected with disease and finally, a last stop for the unwanted and insane.
It all started in the year 1576,when.......IT CAME. Death creeping in it's long black cape, killing everyone that IT touched with it's long bony fingers. IT,......was the Bubonic plague. Bodies of men, women and children littered the streets. They were piled in every alley, the stench and rot made the senses reel..... and was beyond horrifying.
Those that were in charge at the time gathered together and decided they needed a place to dispose of the rotting corpses............and the unfortunate island of Poveglia was chosen. From this moment on the island became dammed and doomed to it's fate, of being cursed for all of eternity.
As the days became months, with no end of misery in sight, hysteria and dread over took the people. The authorities then declared an order, to take all people, including the still living, that have any sign or symptom of the plague.............and send them to the island of the dammed.
Entire families, were removed.... screaming from their homes, placed in a boat with a doctor, who wore a strange bird mask, with a large curved beak upon his face. The doctor would stuff the beak of the mask with herbs, which they believed at the time, would filter the dirty air, and prevent them from getting the plague. On the boat between the doctor and the doomed was a pot of burning herbs, the wafting smoke arose slowly into the air, as the boat rowed ever closer to the feared island.
Once there, the unfortunates were physically thrown into the pits of the dead and dying. Their minds, souls and bodies screaming out in absolute desperation.
Can you imagine the horror of being thrown ALIVE, into that pit? Well, that very misery has scarred this small patch of land, forevermore.
Three times the Black Death spread across Europe and in each and every occasion,....Poveglia was the dumping ground. According to legend 160,000 people were disposed of here.
You can not take a step, without the ash of the burned bodies circling up around your legs. What appears to be white glass, marbles or sea shells is actually human bones, that lie about.
In 1922, an asylum for the insane was built upon this infernal site. The patients immediately started to complain about the misery filled ghostly visions, of dead plague victims walking the grounds, lamenting in distress.
The complaints fell on deaf ears,.......for the doctor that was there to care for them,......was himself seriously disturbed! The doctor who obviously had too much creative freedom and not a hint of oversight, became extremely barbaric with the pathetic patients that were trapped there. Using a basic hammer and a chisel, he would bang away at the skull of his living patients, in an attempt to lobotomise them.
Many died at his hands.
After many years of experimenting on the unfortunates and butchering his patients, it is said the doctor took his own life. Many say,..... it was the spirits of the slain, that encouraged the doctor to climb the bell tower and jump to his fate.
The legend goes on to say, that the remaining patients, gathered up the body of the murdering physician and encased his body in the bell tower. The doctors spirit remains imprisoned.... forever more.
All people are banned from visiting the island, by the government of Italy. Locals will not step foot on the body soaked earth and the fishermen of the surrounding areas will not even fish the death tainted waters, of Poveglia.
It is one of the darkest spots on the planet and NO paranormal investigator has ever spent the entire night there and investigated it,..............UNTIL NOW.
The Ghost Adventures crew spent a complete night, alone on the island!
Here is what they experienced.
*Black mists rising,.... forming in the air.
*Loud moans that could be heard without the equipment.
*Screams, of anguish.
*Footsteps, coming toward them.
*Camera and equipment malfunctions.
*Orbs of light. One in particular flies past a meter and the meter seen to spike at the exact same time.
*Radical temperature change,.......from 82 degrees to 69 degrees, in moments.
*Extremely loud banging.
*The energy of the crew, gets repeatedly drained.
*The crew becomes dizzy, feels like the equilibrium is severely off, they collectively become weak.
*Zak feels a sudden onset of anger and rage,........then suddenly,....screams out!
*The investigation actually needs to be stopped, for a blessing and a cleansing. Much footage was cut from this episode, because it was so distressing to the investigators.
Spirit voices captured:
*" Let's fight!" This is said to Zak.
* "Zak!" This was said while Zak was standing in the burning fields, where the bonfires were held to incinerate the bodies.
* " Hey." This is said after the investigator issues a challenge. A bright light flashes, then the camera mysteriously shuts off!
* "Bye-bye." This is said in a sarcastic way, as Zak leaves the room.
It was an EXCELLENT investigation. Watch a clip here from the Travel Channel, of Zak in the "Burial Fields."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twuelb67Bg8
Want to see more? Watch a longer clip here of the Ghost Adventures Crew, making contact with the departed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOtL3DZRwfE
All that remains today is the ruins of the hospital, the doctor's office, a church, and a crematorium that turned so many bodies to ash.
People of the region report seeing strange lights floating on the island and hearing the moans and screams of the anguished.
Poveglia.......is truly haunted ground.
