49 Abandoned Landmarks That Are More Beautiful Than Ever

8. Poveglia Island – Venice, Italy

Floating in the quiet Venetian Lagoon, just a short boat ride from the grandeur of Venice itself, Poveglia Island is one of Italy’s most infamous and visually haunting abandoned landmarks. Though serene from a distance, its overgrown courtyards and collapsing structures tell a darker story—one that blends plague, paranoia, and the passage of time. In the 18th century, Poveglia was used as a quarantine station for ships suspected of carrying infectious diseases. It’s said that thousands of plague victims died here, their remains interred in mass graves beneath the soil. Later, in the early 20th century, the island housed a psychiatric hospital, where rumors of unethical experiments and ghostly sightings further cemented its sinister reputation. Today, Poveglia is completely uninhabited, a hauntingly beautiful patch of green and crumbling architecture embraced by shimmering blue waters. The buildings, now skeletal ruins, are choked with ivy and strewn with decaying medical equipment, while trees grow through collapsed roofs. Despite its eerie history, the island’s contrast of tranquil nature and decaying man-made structures creates an unexpectedly poetic, melancholic beauty. It's a place suspended between myth and reality—a haunting jewel of the Venetian archipelago.