Anyone wanna buy a place in Italy with me? -- it might be haunted...

[WolfeMacleod]

ohh yeah. Here's a place I would buy...


The Most Haunted Place In The World Is For Sale





The Most Haunted Place In The World Is For Sale

Like ghosts? Then you'll love Poveglia, a small, deserted island in the Venetian lagoon that's going on the auction block next month. It's been called "the island of madness," "Hell," and "the most haunted place on Earth." You'd just love it to pieces.

No, but seriously, this place sounds scary. The trouble started back in the late 19th century when Poveglia served as a checkpoint for ships going to Venice. After a pair of ships carrying plague victims arrived in 1793, the island was sealed off and turned into a quarantine zone for people with infectious diseases, a role it served for over a century. It goes without saying that many of these people died on the island during this time, leading to the widespread belief that Poveglia is haunted. It didn't help when the place was converted into a hospital for the mentally ill in 1922. Rumor has it, the hospital was home to a number of crude lobotomies, performed by a doctor who'd been driven mad by the ghosts. He later flung himself off the bell tower.
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These days, Poveglia's pretty quiet. Still owned by the Italian government, it's been abandoned for the past 50 years, though ghost hunters like to make the pilgrimage whenever they can. One American TV presenter even says he was briefly possessed while visiting the island. The Italian government is now offering a 99-year lease to whomever's brave enough to take it over. No price information is available yet—but they think it would make a great destination hotel.

But it's a gem. It really is. St. Marks Square is a stone's throw away. The landscaping is just gorgeous, and just think of all the stories you'd be able to tell after a few years living amongst the spirits of old plague victims and mental patients. Of course, you may have to perform an exorcism or two, but hey, nothing's perfect. Call it a fixer-upper. [Telegraph]

The Most Haunted Place In The World Is For Sale

[WolfeMacleod]

Scaredy-cats.

[slakjaw]

I'm in!

[cashflyer]

Will it be just like on the Scooby Doo cartoons?

[Rick V]

It has a bell tower and ability for a mote, I would love to own it

[GH85Carrera]

The commute to my office is too far. I figure ghosts and Bigfoot and unicorns are the same scary, none at all.

[fred cook]

I saw the tv show about this place! You would not catch me there after dark! Not a ghost of a chance!

[IS300]

add me....

[Por_sha911]

I'd plunk down the cash and move in today except it isn't a purchase but a 99 year lease so the deal is off.

[72doug2,2S]

I'd like an ocean view.

[Bill Douglas]

Doesn't worry me, I'd fit right in.

[Brando]

99 year lease instead of a purchase? I really like the idea of visiting and checking the place out. I could see this place benefiting from a massive renovation project. Of course, the "buddy system" would be in full effect. No work after dark. And nothing to be done until a full sweep of the grounds is done to root out any straggling squatters.

Or just burn it, level it, and rebuild. Who knows who or what is living in there right now.

[Steve Carlton]

What's the penalty for breaking the lease early?

[Kirk911SC]

Some great photos here:

Strange Geographies: The Happy, Haunted Island of Poveglia | Mental Floss

[Paul_Heery]

I will be in that area in two weeks.Let me know if you want me to do a PPI for you.