Hiding From Police on The World's Most Haunted Island

Описание: In the shadow of Venice lies Poveglia Island, widely considered the Most Haunted Island on Earth—once a mass burial and cremation site for plague victims, later the location of a psychiatric asylum marked by disturbing practices and the mysterious death of its head doctor.

Poveglia Island has been closed to the public for decades. During the Black Death, the island was used to quarantine, bury, and burn the dead as Venice fought repeated waves of plague. Over time, layers of ash, bone, and human remains accumulated beneath its soil—earning it a reputation as one of the darkest places in Europe.

In the 20th century, Poveglia was repurposed as a psychiatric asylum. Legends from this period describe brutal conditions, unethical treatments, and a head doctor whose death remains unexplained.

In this episode of Backpackology, I spend twenty-four hours on Poveglia Island, exploring it’s history and documenting what remains today: collapsing hospital buildings, dark stories, and the physical traces of centuries of isolation and suffering. This is not a ghost hunt, and it’s not an urban exploration stunt—it’s an attempt to understand why places like this become haunted in the cultural imagination.

Is Poveglia truly haunted? Or is its reputation the result of history so extreme that it still shapes how we feel in its presence?

This episode explores the Black Death, abandonment, institutional cruelty, and the way human trauma can linger long after a place is left behind.

About the series:
Backpackology is a long-form travel documentary series exploring forbidden, forgotten, and myth-laden places around the world—where history, landscape, and legend intersect.