The water taxi cuts its engine two hundred meters from the shore and the driver offers no explanation. He simply stops. Across the olive-green water of the Venice Lagoon, a low, tree-choked island appears to be sinking into its own reflection — the campanile of an old church listing to one side, stone buildings dissolving back into the earth, no lights, no docks accepting visitors. The driver watches you watch the island, then turns the boat around. This is Poveglia. The being-turned-away is as close as almost anyone gets.
In 1776, the Venetian Republic established a permanent quarantine station on the island. Ships from the eastern Mediterranean were required to stop, offload sick passengers, and wait. Those who showed plague symptoms were landed and could not leave. Over the years that followed, the dead accumulated. Estimates drawn from historical records and archaeological surveys place the number buried on Poveglia — on twenty-two acres — between 100,000 and 160,000. The soil is not metaphorically saturated with death; significant portions of it are literally composed of human remains. Venetian fishermen have long avoided the waters around the island. Their nets sometimes came up with bones.
The quarantine station eventually closed. The island was abandoned. Today it is owned by the Italian government, officially shut, prohibition enforced by the carabinieri, signs posted on the water approaches. Unauthorized visits do occur and result in fines. In 2014 it was briefly offered for auction. Recent concession agreements may bring partial visitor access in the coming years. The campanile has been stabilized. For now, Poveglia remains a place you pass by water and observe from a distance.
Story Source: www.visitvenezia.eu
