10 Mysterious Places You Aren’t Allowed To Visit

9. Poveglia, Italy

Considered by some to be the most haunted island on the planet, Poveglia in Italy is probably somewhere to strike off the holiday wish list. There's no chance of getting onto the Venetian stretch anyway. Poveglia was sold for around £400,000 in 2014 and has been closed to the tourists ever since.

Start thanking that buyer.

Poveglia has a nightmarish history of illness, both physical and mental. When the Bubonic Plague hit Venice hard in the 1300s, this tiny island was where sufferers were sent to be quarantined. This happened again in 1922, albeit as a quarantine station for those who were mentally ill.

Since then, rumours of ghosts and ghouls have been part of the island's folklore. The mental hospital only closed in 1968, but the past 50 years have been heavy on superstition. Even if Poveglia was open for exploration, millions of Italians wouldn't want to go near it.