A small island near Venice once used as a plague pit is set to become a public park for the city’s residents.
Part of Poveglia, an island south of the Italian city, has been deserted and closed to visitors for decades, its dilapidated hospital buildings frozen in time, its imposing fort now abandoned and its rumoured mass graves still hidden.
Its grisly past covers both the countless unknown plague victims thought to have died on the island and the lobotomies reputed to have occurred there when the hospital served as a mental asylum in the 1920s.
In 2014 the Italian government sold the island for £400,000 as part of an Italian government strategy to sell off unused property to address its budget crisis.
But a group of Venetians launched a campaign to protect the island from commercial development, calling themselves ‘Poveglia For Everyone’ (PFE).
Following a protracted battle, PFE won control over the island. The activist group won a six-year lease, beginning next month, beating competitors including Venice’s mayor Luigi Brugnaro.
The grassroots group asked Venetians to donate money to help preserve the island from development and turn it into an oasis for those wishing to escape the hustle and bustle of the tourist-laden city.
Patrizia Veclani, one of the founders of Poveglia for Everyone, told the Times: ‘We woke up with a nest egg of €460,000 (£400,887) and a community full of high-level professional skills.’
Her group will pay little more than €1,000 (£871) a year for the renewable lease.
PFE says it is joining forces with the University of Verona to transform the northern part of the island ‘into a lagoon urban park open to citizens and respectful of the ecosystem and the landscape elements that characterise the lagoon.’
The group faces an uphill battle to regenerate the island, however, as there is currently no water or electricity, nor is there a proper pier.
Earlier this year, furious Neapolitan locals attempted to crowdfund the purchasing ‘back’ of a tiny island in the shadows of Mount Vesuvius after it was listed for sale at over £8million.
The island of Punta Pennata, which spans an area of just 70×500 metres, lays a mere 100 metres offshore the town of Bacoli in the Gulf of Naples.
Despite being a favourite fishing retreat of locals for decades, the rocky peninsula was put up for sale by luxury auctioneers Sotheby’s.
Residents and officials from neighbouring towns are not simply accepting the island’s sale though, with Bacoli mayor Josi Della Rangione leading the campaign to place Punta Pennata under the stewardship of the local community.
Italy as a nation has already dealt with vast levels of overtourism and a plethora of foreign tycoons buying up similarly prime real estate from under local’s noses.
In a bid to stop Punta Pennata from falling into the hands of another exorbitantly wealthy businessperson or celebrity, Mr Della Regione drumme up support from all over Italy in the hopes that the local community can raise enough funds to ‘buy back’ the island.
