Vampires in Venice (2024 edition)

(Image: Matteo Borrini)

An old 2009 post entitled Vampires in Venice recently became one of my Top 10 most popular posts. I wondered why. It turns out that Vampires in Venice are once again in the news. 

From the New York Post in March 2024:

16th-century ‘vampire’ buried with brick in her mouth — to stop blood-sucker from eating the dead

And another from Archeology News: 

Scientists reconstruct face of 16th century ‘vampire woman’ buried with brick In her jaws

Scientists have reconstructed the face of a 16th-century woman believed to have been buried as a vampire.
Credit: Cicero Moraes, OrtogOnline 2024

My original 2009 post is so old that most of the links are outdated and no longer function. I've tried to clean it up a bit, yet keep the same tone from 15 years ago. 

In fact, there was so much updating to be done, that I decided to grab the original Vampires in Venice post I wrote on March 6, 2009 out of the Way Back Machine and put it back where it was, and publish this as a new post today, September 28, 2024, mashing the whole thing together with new notes. So, some of this is from 2009, and some of this is from 2024. 

What I wrote today is in italics. Have fun!

Starting off with the original: 

(Venice, Italy) I have been threatening to write a book called Vampires in Venice for a long time now -- in fact, I just read the first Stephenie Meyer Twilight book to prepare. Vampires are very big in my genre; it seems like every YA writer has climbed on the vampire bandwagon.

Whenever another vampire book arrives on the scene, I think, HHmmph. You guys don't know nothin.' We got real vampires over here in Venice, baby, not some weeny American vampires. Our vampires are thousands of years old. They are professionals and do not seek the spotlight like the Hollywood vampires do. Our vampires are distinguished, love to listen to classical music, and have learned how to drink red wine instead of blood.

Now, today, after 500 years, we finally have some proof:

(ANSA) - Rome, March 6 - The remains of a 'vampire' have been found in a grave in Venice lagoon, an Italian forensic anthropologist has claimed.

That image (at the top) is an ANSA photo depicting the proper way one must impale a vampire -- through the mouth with a brick, not through the heart with a stake as they do in America. Because, of course, the point is to get them to stop sucking blood, which is difficult to do with a brick in one's mouth.

From the March 6, 2009 ANSA article: 

It was thought that these vampires, who were buried next to the bodies of plague victims, fed on their dead neighbours until they felt strong enough to rise from the grave and begin feeding on the living, perpetuating the cycle of contamination.

Gravediggers were therefore responsible for identifying possible vampire women among the dead by signs of shroud-chewing around the mouth and impaling them with a brick to stop them feeding, according to Borrini.

The woman's skeleton was found in mass grave of victims of the Venetian plague of 1576 - in which the artist Titian also died - on the small island of Lazzaretto Nuovo. Venice authorities had designated the island a quarantine hospital in 1468 following an earlier plague epidemic.

Click here to read the entire article:

http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2009-03-06_106329688.html

That link does not work. Here is a similar New Scientist article from March 4, 2009, with a link that works:

'Vampire' discovered in mass grave

However, the following discussion is about the March 6, 2009 Ansa article (are you confused?):

In the article, you will notice that the plague was blamed on the female vampires, not the males. That is an outright Venetian myth designed to confuse you. It is an old Venetian trick to say one thing, but do exactly the opposite.

In fact, it's perfectly legal to behave in such a fashion, and if you can get away with such behavior, you get extra bonus points. Believe me, there are just as many male vampires as there are female vampires. In fact, I would say males outnumber females 3 to 1.

[UPDATE APRIL 3, 2017 - That link no longer works, nor do many others on this dusty post. However, there is an update to the story on the National Geographic site.

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2024 TO UPDATE APRIL 3, 2017] - That link no longer works, but I found a National Geographic link from February 27, 2010 that does. Now, the poor woman is not only accused of being a vampire but also a witch!

The skull of the "Vampire of Venice," found in a mass plague grave with a brick stuck in its jaw.

Photograph courtesy National Geographic Television

"Vampire of Venice" Unmasked: Plague Victim & Witch?”

(Next, I leap into a discussion about the plague -- remember, I'm writing this 15 years ago:-)

The Plague of 1576 is the plague that inspired one of Venice's most beloved holidays and famous churches -- Redentore. From the Comune's website (none of the links function):

The plague 

In the three years between 1575 and 1577 the Serenissima was tormented by the plague: aided by the high density of the population, the disease spread through the city, causing terrible losses. Almost 50,000 died, which was more than a third of the city's inhabitants.

That image you see of the man with a hat and a beak and a wand is a plague doctor. The beak was stuffed with medicinal herbs, etc. to keep the doctor from catching the plague.

The vow 

On September 4, 1576, the Senate decided that the Doge should announce the vow to erect a church dedicated to the Redentore (Redeemer), in return for help in ending the plague.

The end of the plague 

On July 13, 1577, the plague was declared definitively over and it was decided that the city's liberation from the terrible disease should be celebrated on the third Sunday in July.

Ah, those were the days! When doctors ran around dressed as birds with long beaks, and gravediggers jammed bricks into the mouths of female vampires to stop them from munching on dead plague victims. Just think: we still celebrate the Redentore holiday today!

You regular readers will remember we had a discussion about the Church of Redentore before, which was designed by Palladio. The blog was entitled (by strange coincidence): "Where's the Blood?"->

Where's the Blood? Palladio Redux - Venice, Italy

The vampire depicted in the very top photo was discovered out on the Island of Lazzaretto Nuovo. You must take Vaporetto 13 to get there, and if you think I am joking about the number, I am not. You can wander out there and visit the island, which is, in reality, full of precious archaeological discoveries.

You can even take an archaeological vacation. It sounds so fascinating, I think I'll head out there some day soon and report back. Here's their website:

UPDATED INFO ABOUT THE ISLAND OF LAZZARETTO NUOVO:

The island is open for visits from March to November, for guided visits only.
The visit lasts about two hours. It includes the historical-archeological itinerary of the Lazzaretto Nuovo inside the walls (the museum exhibit inside the Tezon Grande and the open-air archeological digs), as well as the naturalistic walk of the marshlands outside the walls ("The Path of the Barene").

Guided visits in English are scheduled every Saturday at 11am, from April 13th to October 19th 2024 (in August only exclusive tour). Reservation by email is required, no later than the preceding Thursday. The scheduled visits takes place only with a minimum number of reservations. We will confirm the reservation as soon as the number is reached. 

Please kindly write to info@lazzarettiveneziani.it and wait for our confirmation.
This visit costs 10€ per person, 5€ for children up to 14 years. The contribution is donated to non-profit activities for the ecomuseum. Payment is at the entrance on the day of the visit by debit or credit card. The island can be reached by the ACTV Line 13: departing from Venice-Fondamente Nuove or from Treporti at 10.25 a.m. (return by vaporetto at 12.55 a.m.) 

Back to the original:

And don't worry. Venetian vampires do not drink the blood of the average tourist. After consuming too much McDonald's and other fast food, humanity's diet has gotten so tasteless their blood is almost undrinkable for our poor vampires.

Venetian vampires prefer to snack on your soul.

Ciao from Venezia

Cat Bauer
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog