Italy is a diverse country that is well-known for its natural beauty and the cultural experience it gives its visitors. However, this country also has a darker with some particularly scary places that even Hardcore Italians are frightened to visit alone.
1. Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo
The buried catacombs in Sicily, southern Italy, are both an interesting historical record and a macabre tourist attraction. It is not a destination for the faint-hearted though. While some of the bodies on display are skeletons, some are wonderfully preserved. One example of this is a little girl called Rosalie Lombardo. She died in 1920 and she still looks like a small child sleeping. When you consider the number of dead people housed there, it leads you to wonder how many are haunting the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo.
2. Villa Magnoni
All except one window are boarded up at this derelict house. In the 1980s, a group of teens decided to explore the house and, on entering, could hear children playing in the garden. There were no children anywhere in sight. An old lady then appeared at a window began to tell them off and ordered them to leave. The group fled the house in terror and then had a horrific car crash on their way home. All but one of the teens died. The locals boarded the house up, but the boarding from the window where the old woman stood mysteriously disappeared.
3. Proveglia Island, Venice
Considered one of the most haunted places in the world, not just Italy, it is perhaps a good thing that visitors no longer have access to the island. It is believed that the island is haunted by over 160,000 souls who perished due to the Plague. The island was also home to a mental asylum where patients suffered horrendous procedures, such as lobotomies.
4. Castello di Montebello
Guandalina, the five-year-old daughter of Lord Ugolinuccio da Montebello, was an Albino girl who was constantly guarded by two men to protect her because of her condition. The locals called her Azzurrina, meaning ‘The Little Blue One’, because of her blue hair and eyes. One day in 1375, she ran after her cloth ball and fell into the dungeon. She was never seen again and her body was never discovered. Her ghost is said to still haunt the castle and her cries are heard every five years at the summer solstice.
5. The Evil Tower of Castella di Poppi
An Italian maid called Matelda was sentenced to death for the murder of her lover. Her ghost now wanders around The Evil Tower at the Castella di Poppi.
6. Maniero Della Rotta
This privately-owned castle is now abandoned but it has seen plenty of creepy action. It is haunted by numerous people who have lived there or have passed the castle on their travels. There have been reported sightings of monks, ladies, hangmen, knaves and knights at this location.
7. Botanical Gardens, Lucca
This place seems too beautiful to be scary, but it is one of the most haunted spots in Italy. The gardens were owned by Lucida Mansi. The Lucchesi had two obsessions; her youth and younger lovers. Legend says that she killed her lovers once she had her wicked way with them. The legend also says that in exchange for 30 more years of youth and beauty, she sold her soul to the devil. A burning carriage is often seen crossing the gardens in moonlight and rumor has it that if you put your head in the lake, you can see the face of the Lucchesi staring back.
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