In July of 2012, my mom and myself went to Venice to handle some family matters. At this time it was one of the tourist peak seasons for Venice, so a hotel was too expensive. Instead we were able to find a small flat for accommodation ( the orange building shown in the Google Street View image). The ground floor of the flat was just the entrance to the building and had no living space, the first floor was taken up by the first flat which is where we stayed, and the second floor above was vacant at the time (we checked with the landlord).
This building was constructed in the 1820s and acted as a medical station for soldiers during the unification of Italy (1815-1860). Given the immense heat there, I slept on the sleeper-couch in the kitchen because it was the only other room with air-conditioning (the other being the main bedroom which my mom took).
So a few days after arriving, I was sitting on the couch, busy on my laptop and I distinctly heard heavy footsteps coming from the flat above us. Almost as though someone had boots on and was stomping slowly across the room. Initially I thought maybe some tourists had occupied the room the night before, but that same day when we were about to go out, the landlord came in and brought the group of tourists that were suppose to be in that flat. And the whole time they were in the flat, the heavy footsteps were never heard.
What was really strange was (and this happened a few nights), often I would lay on the couch watching TV late at night with the air conditioner and the kitchen light on. Whenever I passed out while watching TV, I would wake up an hour or so later with the TV, the kitchen light and the air conditioner off, but the light in the passage outside the kitchen would be on (which was always left off), and I would have the blanket cover me up to my shoulders. I asked my mom if she had woken up in the middle of the night and done all of that and she insisted she didn't. I Googled the air conditioner and TV, neither of them had timing features to switch them off. Could the inhabitants of the 1820s still be looking after guests?
Then one day I went on a tour of Venice by myself, and I visited the Chiesa di San Zaccaria (Church of Saint Zachariah), which can be seen in the image I took below. Underneath the church is the crypt where a number of Venetian Doges are buried. When I went down there, I was the only person and yet the presence in there was very strong. It was tricky to describe but it did not seem very welcoming at the time, so I left the crypt very quickly.
I think given Venice's long and often turbulent history, I'm sure there are many places with strange phenomena taking place. Even walking in the streets late at night (would not recommend it now), the city exudes a completely different energy to that of the day. Almost as though the past is still there
The Venetian Flat
Chiesa di San Zaccaria
This building was constructed in the 1820s and acted as a medical station for soldiers during the unification of Italy (1815-1860). Given the immense heat there, I slept on the sleeper-couch in the kitchen because it was the only other room with air-conditioning (the other being the main bedroom which my mom took).
So a few days after arriving, I was sitting on the couch, busy on my laptop and I distinctly heard heavy footsteps coming from the flat above us. Almost as though someone had boots on and was stomping slowly across the room. Initially I thought maybe some tourists had occupied the room the night before, but that same day when we were about to go out, the landlord came in and brought the group of tourists that were suppose to be in that flat. And the whole time they were in the flat, the heavy footsteps were never heard.
What was really strange was (and this happened a few nights), often I would lay on the couch watching TV late at night with the air conditioner and the kitchen light on. Whenever I passed out while watching TV, I would wake up an hour or so later with the TV, the kitchen light and the air conditioner off, but the light in the passage outside the kitchen would be on (which was always left off), and I would have the blanket cover me up to my shoulders. I asked my mom if she had woken up in the middle of the night and done all of that and she insisted she didn't. I Googled the air conditioner and TV, neither of them had timing features to switch them off. Could the inhabitants of the 1820s still be looking after guests?
Then one day I went on a tour of Venice by myself, and I visited the Chiesa di San Zaccaria (Church of Saint Zachariah), which can be seen in the image I took below. Underneath the church is the crypt where a number of Venetian Doges are buried. When I went down there, I was the only person and yet the presence in there was very strong. It was tricky to describe but it did not seem very welcoming at the time, so I left the crypt very quickly.
I think given Venice's long and often turbulent history, I'm sure there are many places with strange phenomena taking place. Even walking in the streets late at night (would not recommend it now), the city exudes a completely different energy to that of the day. Almost as though the past is still there
The Venetian Flat
Chiesa di San Zaccaria
