FORMER AGUSCELLO CHILDREN'S PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL

In Emilia Romagna, more specifically inprovince of Ferrara, is located one of the most haunted asylums in Italy: theformer children's psychiatric hospital in Aguscello, also known as theAguscello Asylum, which at its time was home for children under the age of thirteen.

Photos byErika Artale📸

In 1933, the facility was turned into a hospital that mainly housed tuberculosis patients, and only later, in 1940, was it given to the Italian Red Cross, which turned it into a psychiatric institute.
Unlike the other asylums, this one was intended only for the care of children considered to be“difficult.”

Very few things are actually known about what was once the Aguscello Asylum, but the story goes that it was run by a few nuns and that children were subjected to unorthodox physical and psychological torture and torments typical of those years. There was no distinction between the various pathologies, and consequently not even between the various therapies, so the most common wereelectroshock,lobotomyand ice water immersions.
Legend says there was also a mass grave where the bodies of the little ones who had not withstood the harsh and cruel treatments were buried.

Photos byElisabetta Xsavar📸

SINISTER STORIES AND TALES THAT HAVE HAUNTED AGUSCELLO FOR YEARS

In a place as macabre and charged with energy as this, endless terrifying stories and legends could only hover.
The most popular legend concerning the hospital is the story of the youngFilippo Erni. The boy was reportedly imprisoned in a room at the highest point of the building after killing some of his fellow students at the institution.
His heavy and agonizing incarceration forced him to attempt to escape by throwing himself out the window, finding death on the building's outdoor garden. Many say that, in the night, his small, agile footsteps can still be heard among the empty rooms of the hospital, and others even affirm that the blond child spins the merry-go-round that once stood in the chapel adjacent to the central building. This is the quote that is possible to read on the wall:

❝Whoever spins the merry-go-round will no longer be able to stop it since the souls of the children will play forever.❞

Photos byMarco Romano📸

Another controversial myth known about the Aguscello Asylum is the one concerning its suddenclosure, in the'70s. Some people talk about a fire, probably started by a patient or a person who was aware of the terrible things that were going on inside the facility, but to this day no traces of soot or fire are visible, making this hypothesis virtually unlikely.
Others speak of an epidemic that would have killed all the children, and they would have been buried in the mass grave reserved for them.

Hospital would then be dismantled to conceal possible evidence and testimony of what happened during those 30 long years of operation and management of the structure.

Many people are certainly familiar with Aguscello, including prominent figures in the world of Internet and television such asghosthuntersor the well-known programMistero, up to urbexers or mere onlookers. Apparently, the famous haunted asylum in the province of Ferrara has also been the subject of numerous visits by cults orreligious fanaticswho left their traces in time. Some remains have indeed been found that can be traced back to a ritual, but experts believe that this is the only real reliable evidence on which to base this disturbing theory, and that the rest would just be staged or rituals performed by inexperienced people.

Today, the former Aguscello Children's Psychiatric Hospital is in an even more terrible condition, beingcompletely uninhabitable and unsafe, which is why its large, creaky gates have been closed permanently, and all entrances have been barricaded. The entire perimeter surrounding the asylum, consisting of tall weeds and towering trees, is currently overgrown by thesurveillance cameras.

Photos byDavide Ottavi📸

THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE IS IN NO WAY
TO ENCOURAGE THE READER OR INVITE TO EXPLORING.
ALL LOCATIONS MENTIONED WITHIN THE URBEX CAFE
ARE IN RUINS AND ARE OFTEN A DANGER OF COLLAPSE.
WHOEVER DECIDES TO VENTURE OUT TAKES
EVERY CONSCIOUS RISK.

LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS AND TAKE ONLY PHOTOS.