(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.
16th-century ‘vampire’ buried with brick in her mouth — to stop blood-sucker from eating the dead
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My original 2009 post is so old that most of the links are outdated and no longer function.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.
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.
(ANSA) - Rome, March 6 - The remains of a 'vampire' have been found in a grave in Venice lagoon, an Italian forensic anthropologist has claimed.
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.
'Vampire' discovered in mass grave
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 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!
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 end of the plague
Where's the Blood? Palladio Redux - Venice, Italy
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.)
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog
This is such a cool post...I'm linking to you tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jill. All links are greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteCiao,
Cat