Latest news with #Venetianlagoon
CTV News
6 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘Haunted' Venice island to become a locals-only haven where tourists are banned
A view of the 19th-century asylum on Poveglia is pictured. (Marcovia CNN Newsource) The abandoned Venetian island of Poveglia — site of a plague pit and former asylum — is about to take on a happier new identity. On August 1, a group of Venetians will take possession of the supposedly haunted island under a 99-year lease from the Italian state and embark on a project to turn it into an urban park open only to residents of the Italian city. The locals fought off stiff competition from property developers to ensure Poveglia remained a public asset. In 2014, the island, which is around 7.5 hectares (18.5 acres) in size and sits in the southern part of the Venice lagoon, was put on an auction list by the Italian State Property Agency, opening it up to developers tempted by its peaceful but convenient location just three miles from St. Mark's Square. Several consortia raised money to buy it, including one tied to Luigi Brugnaro, the current mayor of Venice, whose group raised 513,000 euros (US$600,000) but failed to gain approval from the state. Horrified at the prospect of the island being sold to a private buyer, Patrizia Veclani formed a group, Poveglia per Tutti (Poveglia For Everyone), to try to save the island and others like it that are on the government's auction list. The group, which has more than 4,500 members, managed to raise 460,000 euros ($539,000) and secure the lease. 'It wasn't just outrage, it was psychologically traumatic to realize that the city could be broken up and sold to the highest bidder, without a starting price, without even a plan. It's as if Rome were to decide to sell the Trevi Fountain. Venice and its Lagoon are one, inseparable,' Veclani said at a public forum last month, before the winning bid was announced. Veclani told CNN on Friday that her group sees this as a small victory in reclaiming Venice from overtourism, a longstanding problem. An estimated 30 million tourists visit the city every year, dwarfing the local population, which has now dwindled to less than 50,000, despite authorities' efforts to limit visitor numbers through measures such as a 2021 ban on cruise ships and a five euro ($5.86) charge for day-trippers introduced last year. 'The island would never have been as popular as other places,' Veclani said, 'but keeping this small space just for Venetians is a victory.' Poveglia island Italy A room inside the ruined asylum is pictured. (Marcovia CNN Newsource_ An overgrown woodland, a military fortress, 15 dilapidated hospital buildings and a rather large colony of rabbits are all that remain on the island, the group says. Poveglia's spooky history goes back to an outbreak of the bubonic plague in the 18th century, brought to Venice by fleas on merchant ships during a period when the city was an international trading hub. As the plague spread, the island was converted into a maritime quarantine dock for merchant ships arriving from abroad and for people with symptoms. Before that, it was inhabited by farmers and fishermen, having been founded as a Roman military base in 421 CE. The island's farm buildings and military barracks were transformed into dormitories, where the sick lived together and were subjected to primitive treatments, like bloodletting. As the plague spread, the dead were buried in mass graves. Venetian historians estimate that more than 160,000 people were buried on the island between the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 19th century, Poveglia became an asylum for mentally ill people, who were often restrained and subject to experimental treatments. The asylum closed in 1968, and the island has been uninhabited ever since. Poveglia's sad history led some to believe that it was haunted. Modern ghost-hunters, including U.S. television series 'Ghost Adventures,' have visited the island over the years, spreading the myths further. 'The island was made famous by foreigners who were looking for something to exploit,' Massimo Pera, a patron of the group, told CNN. 'The memories of the island are steeped in pain, but we will transform it into a place of joy.' The renovation of the island, which lacks electricity and running water, is being guided by the APsyM laboratory at the University of Verona's department of human sciences. Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN
The Independent
6 days ago
- The Independent
Abandoned island in Venice to become a haven for locals seeking escape from tourism
Venetian activists will transform part of an abandoned island into a public park, where locals can escape the millions of tourists that visit the city each year. The grassroots group, named Poveglia per Tutti (Poveglia for Everyone), said it had received permission from the Italian government to transform the island of Poveglia into a public lagoon park from 1 August. Residents and supporters across Italy have campaigned for more than a decade to save the historically significant but decaying island from neglect and privatisation. Campaigners say the project aims to create a 'public lagoon park open to all,' managed collectively through 'practices of subsidiarity and active participation.' Patrizia Veclani, one of the founders of the group, has told local outlet Altreconomia earlier this year that Poveglia per Tutti would prioritise building an 'accessible and safe landing place' and creating 'a way to reach the island without overtaking it with tourism'. They hope this model could serve as an alternative vision for Venice, where locals say they are struggling to cope with overtourism. The city has recently introduced measures like entry fees to curb tourist pressure, while residents warn of losing public space and a strain on local infrastructure. Cruise ships have been banned from entering the Venice lagoon and main Giudecca Canal since August 2021 – a move welcomed by Unesco after repeated warnings that the large vessels were damaging the iconic city. But after a brief trial last year, Venice also recently reintroduced its day-tripper tax, charging tourists not staying on the islands €5 to visit. From April this year, tourists are now charged €10 for that privilege unless they book at least four days in advance. Poveglia was once used as a quarantine site for people with plague and other infectious diseases. It was later converted into a mental hospital. The hospital shut its doors in 1968, and the island has remained abandoned ever since. Poveglia per Tutti has set aside around €300,000 for the first phase of the project and plans to seek further funding. It has also partnered with the University of Verona to study the social impact of redevelopment, aiming to create a blueprint for community-led management of public assets. The group said in a statement that the success of the project is due to 'thousands of members, supporters, associations and organisations' who backed the vision, even from afar.' They urged people to volunteer, spread the word and help turn Poveglia into what they call 'a symbol of a new idea of managing community assets.' Venice's historic centre had more than 170,000 residents in 1954, according to city authorities. Last year, they were down to just over 49,000. Around 30 million tourists visit Venice in a typical year, with about seven out of 10 (or 21 million) staying only for the day.
