Continuing on our Derptastic Italy Tour, we'd spent a day dicking about by a lake before heading over to The Old Ospedale Degli Ingermi. After spending quite a few hours there too we decided to find somewhere to camp for the night and headed over to La Bertagnetta di Vercelli.
If you believe what you read online its meant to be one of the most haunted places in Vercelli, but we all know ghosts aren't real so we had no worries about staying overnight
So after a midnight BBQ and many beers we bedded down for the night. Not one demonic scream was heard or unexpected spectral appearance was made and we made it through the night unscathed.
It's quite trashed but still has some pretty features to see, not least the mortuary slab. The next morning we mooched around until we found the slab and happy with our find we buggered off to our next location.
History
La Bertagnetta of Vercelli was built between the end of the 1800s and the early 1900s. Its purpose was to give the hope of healing to people suffering from diseases related to the respiratory system or to treat and care for those who came there due to old age.
In the first half of the twentieth century, hospitals were not readily available and those suffering from serious diseases went facilities like this. Until the 1940s pneumonia was still a high cause of deaths and there were many people who passed through the Bertagnetta corridors.
The Bertagnetta has a strong link with the town of Casale. In 1907 the firm Eternit of Casale Monferrato started its production of asbestos. It wasn't until the end of the 1970s the consequences of producing asbestos became known. In 1979 Luigi Poletti passed away and was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, this became known as Tumore di Casale. Luigi was the first victim of the catastrophe. Up until 2008, 1200 cases were detected and 47 Monferrato municipalities were involved. Ironically, a structure which specialized in diseases of the respiratory system, the hospital of Bertagnetta of Vercelli was built with an asbestos roof.
The building was abandoned in 1990 for no obvious reason. Several attempts were made to reuse the building for other purposes thanks to funds obtained from the Region. With funds of 5 billion lire, the goal was to turn the building into a centre for elderly people who were not self-sufficient. Unfortunately, due to Italian bureaucracy, the start was delayed in the mid-1990s. Meanwhile, the vegetation began to overtake the building. Between 1995 and 1996 there seems to be a turning point and Bertagnetta became a home for Rwandan refugees for a short time. The latter were transferred to another location the following year. Finally, the work, funded by the Region years before, started.
There was an enormous amount of money at stake that should have been used to build the centre for the elderly. There was some evidence of work beginning before the company that won the contract got greedy and decided to pocket a large percentage of the money and disappeared into thin air. The future of the hospital should have been rosy and useful to people in need but its dramatic end has extinguished any hope.
Today Bertagnetta is a symbol of decadence and death. Nothing remains of that magnificent garden with guardhouses or the central fountain surrounded by dozens of benches to help patients recover.
Anyway, here are a few photatos as once again I didn't have a tripod so they look like they were taken with a potato.
If you believe what you read online its meant to be one of the most haunted places in Vercelli, but we all know ghosts aren't real so we had no worries about staying overnight
So after a midnight BBQ and many beers we bedded down for the night. Not one demonic scream was heard or unexpected spectral appearance was made and we made it through the night unscathed.It's quite trashed but still has some pretty features to see, not least the mortuary slab. The next morning we mooched around until we found the slab and happy with our find we buggered off to our next location.
History
La Bertagnetta of Vercelli was built between the end of the 1800s and the early 1900s. Its purpose was to give the hope of healing to people suffering from diseases related to the respiratory system or to treat and care for those who came there due to old age.
In the first half of the twentieth century, hospitals were not readily available and those suffering from serious diseases went facilities like this. Until the 1940s pneumonia was still a high cause of deaths and there were many people who passed through the Bertagnetta corridors.
The Bertagnetta has a strong link with the town of Casale. In 1907 the firm Eternit of Casale Monferrato started its production of asbestos. It wasn't until the end of the 1970s the consequences of producing asbestos became known. In 1979 Luigi Poletti passed away and was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, this became known as Tumore di Casale. Luigi was the first victim of the catastrophe. Up until 2008, 1200 cases were detected and 47 Monferrato municipalities were involved. Ironically, a structure which specialized in diseases of the respiratory system, the hospital of Bertagnetta of Vercelli was built with an asbestos roof.
The building was abandoned in 1990 for no obvious reason. Several attempts were made to reuse the building for other purposes thanks to funds obtained from the Region. With funds of 5 billion lire, the goal was to turn the building into a centre for elderly people who were not self-sufficient. Unfortunately, due to Italian bureaucracy, the start was delayed in the mid-1990s. Meanwhile, the vegetation began to overtake the building. Between 1995 and 1996 there seems to be a turning point and Bertagnetta became a home for Rwandan refugees for a short time. The latter were transferred to another location the following year. Finally, the work, funded by the Region years before, started.
There was an enormous amount of money at stake that should have been used to build the centre for the elderly. There was some evidence of work beginning before the company that won the contract got greedy and decided to pocket a large percentage of the money and disappeared into thin air. The future of the hospital should have been rosy and useful to people in need but its dramatic end has extinguished any hope.
Today Bertagnetta is a symbol of decadence and death. Nothing remains of that magnificent garden with guardhouses or the central fountain surrounded by dozens of benches to help patients recover.
Anyway, here are a few photatos as once again I didn't have a tripod so they look like they were taken with a potato.
