2) Poveglia

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Poveglia is a tiny and supposedly haunted Italian island. In 1348, when the plague hit Venice hard, the island became a colony for the afflicted. Giant pyres were lit to burn the dead (and the almost dead) plague victims.

Then, in 1630, when the Black Death came to town, the island was once again the go-to place to burn the diseased and dying.

Between 1922 and 1968 the island housed a mental institution. One doctor who worked there carried out crude early version of lobotomies (and we all know how sinister they were). He eventually jumped to his death from a hospital’s tower after being plagued by ghosts. Some estimate that more than 100,000 people died on that little speck of land. Now the island is abandoned and off-limits.

I don’t believe in hauntings and all that guff, but if somewhere was going to be haunted it would be Poveglia.