Poveglia was constructed on a permanent fortification built by the Venetian government and from 1793-1814 was used as a plague quarantine station, or “lazaretto”—one of many in the Venetian lagoon.
The tiny island is said to have hosted over 160,000 infected souls living out their final days and hours there—so many that there are whispers that 50 percent of the soil consists of human remains. Recently, mass graves have been found on the nearby islands of Lazaretto Nuovo and Lazzaretto Vecchio containing the remains of thousands of plague victims. Poveglia has yet to be fully investigated.
Finding the location of Poveglia to be small and easily missed, Napoleon also used the island for a darker purpose, storing weapons there. The location was discovered, and many small battles took place as the island claimed even more lives.
In 1922, a mental hospital was opened on Poveglia. Local legend says that one doctor at the hospital tortured and killed many of his patients, butchering them horribly, only to later die by falling from, or possibly being thrown off of, its bell tower. The hospital closed in 1968, and the ruins are still there, slowly being reclaimed by greenery. While it is professed to be a former retirement home, evidence that it housed mental patients is still evident.
With a past like this, it’s not surprising that Poveglia is believed to be haunted, attracting the attention of ghost hunters and paranormal investigators.

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The abandoned Istvántelek Train Yard (Istvántelki főműhely), otherwise known as the “Red Star Train Graveyard,” occupies a vast area of land in Budapest. More than 100 locomotives and train cars rot away, some in deteriorating depots, others out in the field. Among these are some very rare train engines, and a few cars that are said to have transported prisoners to Auschwitz during the Holocaust.
Built at the beginning of the 20th century as a repair yard for the national railway, only a few southern parts of the train yard are still in use, while most of it is abandoned. Two large depots, a few smaller sheds and open-air areas are scattered with locomotives and railcars, some of them very ancient, others more recent, from Hungary’s time as part of the Soviet Regime. Some of the trains were brought here to be repaired and exhibited in the Budapest Railway Museum but never made it to the display and were instead left behind in the train yard.

Red Star Train Graveyard

The Seminary of Santa Teresinha do Menino Jesus de Pombeiro, in Felgueiras, was relevant in its ecclesial, human and social dimension as a school of formation and human and intellectual promotion for many young people from Pombeiro and abroad. The Vale de Pombeiro de Ribavizela lost an important icon in its history, on the night of the 25th of July. The fire that devoured the Seminary and reduced it to a granite skeleton, impoverished the heritage of Pombeiro. The Seminary of Santa Teresinha dialogued in the Valley with the Monastery of Pombeiro. They saw each other. The reform of ecclesiastical studies after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) opened Seminars to University Courses in Philosophy and Theology. The Major Seminary of Santa Teresinha then went through several formation experiences. Its essential function has come to an end. It was decommissioned in 1988. The building was eventually sold to a private individual.
THE NEO-MANUELINE SEMINARY CHAPEL
The most beautiful part of the Seminário ST, is the chapel. The chapel features Neo-Manueline architecture. This Portuguese style draws from Late Gothic-style influences. This Gothic Revival style originated in the mid-1800s. Many prestigious late 800s buildings in Lisbon are built in this style.
Manueline is the style that marks the Portuguese artistic and architectural shift away from the late Gothic during the reign of King Manuel I (1469-1521). Although a period of great controversy for art historians, Manueline architecture is a vivid ornamental reflection in Portuguese architecture from the days of the great sea expeditions and meetings with new cultures in faraway lands.
In fact, it is Portuguese architecture in its purest and most unique form, ranging from religious architecture to military monuments evident in the Tower of Belém with its civil ornamentation.
The numerous forms related to the sea and intrepid voyages across the oceans to other continents, mixing elements of Christianity with shells, ropes or fantastic and strange aquatic shapes.
Heraldic or religious symbolism, as seen in the armillary spheres, are other features of this style where there is undoubtedly an ornamental glorification that separates itself from the gothic and in some ways avoids the classicism of the Renaissance.
There are beautiful stained glass windows, miraculously all intact. The main altar and the two lateral altars are wooden. The altars have intricate carvings and gold gilding.
The main entrance of the chapel, where we entered, is attached to the seminary via a doorway. There are also two side entrances to the chapel. These doors feature cracked and peeling yellow paint. Vines and other plants cling to the wrought iron window decorations.

Explored	2019
Year of Inception	approx. 421
Condition	Decaying
Surroundings	Venetian Lagoon