Previously on Broken Window Theory:
During our Italy adventure we discovered the most sinister place we have ever explored.
This former mental hospital is a true place of horror.
Patients were imprisoned, hidden away from society and tortured.
And what’s even worse:
Even orphan children were doomed to grow up here – in the middle of misery and worry.
Inspired by this discovery we decided to search for more abandoned facilities where children once grew up –
hopefully in a happier environment.
Stay tuned if you want to know what we have found hidden in the Italian hills.
More than half of our Italy road trip is already over.
At the moment we’re still in the north of the country heading towards Central Italy.
We’re only proceeding very slowly because narrow mountain roads like those
are running past interesting looking abandoned sites.
As urban explorers we can’t resist the urge to stop and find out what’s hidden in this derelict and remote structure.
While a heat wave tightens its grip on Italy this summer,
the five of us are trying to find a refreshing cooling-down inside dark ruins.
The YouTubers Bryan and Michael from The Proper People are still with us.
And so is our friend and local guide tobi_urbex.
This lousy barrier is our access to the property.
A small alley is leading us to our first spot for today.
And apparently also a chapel is part of this place.
We’re excited because we have already explored several overwhelming but abandoned churches in those last few days in Italy.
Now we want to know how this one looks inside.
But huge cracks in the walls indicate that the condition is already really bad.
Let’s look for a way inside.
All the doors and windows seem to be locked tightly.
But we keep looking and walk around the whole building.
There has to be a way inside somewhere.
And here it is!
This broken open door is our portal to the forgotten past of this place.
Let’s take a look around.
We have to admit that the condition of the building complex is way worse than expected.
It’s already falling apart in many places, the hallways are stripped
and there is also nothing left in the rooms but mold.
Our research after the exploration confirmed our assumption:
The three-floored house used to be a catholic boarding school.
Around 1930 this facility was built on top of the ruins of a former seminary.
On the over 20.000 square meter big compound children were learning, playing and praying for 50 years.
Until the college had to close down in 1984 due to a decreasing number of students.
So what’s with the chapel now?
Luckily, it’s not as empty as the other part of the residential school.
Quite the opposite actually!
Urban explorers are calling this place “Blue Chapel”
because the altar gets illuminated in a blue glow by the high-lying and tall windows.
But as we’re entering the impressive house of God we aren’t alone.
Two elderly Italian men are inspecting the chapel as well.
We aren’t really sure what they’re doing here.
And we just hope we didn’t get ourselves into trouble.
But as it turned out they’re just exploring the old college as well.
And they’re quite unhappy about the bad condition of the building complex.
Completely random dudes, they didn't look like explorers at all.
Even when it might not look like it at first glance:
The chapel has already fallen victim to vandalism.
Looks like his throat is slit though.
And he's bleeding from the eyes.
Geez, who does something like that? Oh, there's the other finger.
Apparently this church was never desecrated.
And so it became a venue for Satanists.
It’s said that there are celebrated black masses on a regular basis.
And even grave robbers were ransacking the site before.
Not the craziest reverb we've heard this trip.
For more splendid urbex photography follow our friend tobi_urbex on Instagram.
You find the link to his profile in the video description down below.
After the boarding school was abandoned, it was used as a police academy for ten years.
Then, in 1997, refugees were housed here transitionally.
After that, the building complex was supposed to be transformed into a foster home.
However, this plan was never turned into action because the businessman became insolvent.
So, in 2010 the property came under the hammer for half a million Euros.
But nobody was interested in buying the place.
Still today Blue Chapel is up for sale.
But we highly doubt that somebody will invest in this building complex anytime soon.
The structure is simply too ramshackle and the compound too outlying.
You would need plenty of money to safe this site.
But to be honest: It’s too late for that.
So, after some hours of exploring we’re leaving Blue Chapel the way we have entered it.
The great sacral architecture has left a deep impression on us.
It’s unbelievable how many amazing abandoned churches we are discovering on our Italy adventure.
This however was only the first stop of today’s tour.
Because close by here the next witness of the past is already waiting for us.
This location is even more hidden than Blue Chapel.
Secluded and less frequented roads are leading us to this former sanatorium in the hills.
As it turned out later, there are plenty of similarities with the recent spot we have explored.
We're surprised about the easy access and the amount of inventory which was left behind.
Hey I didn't expect that much stuff.
Wow, okay. Let me get my camera. We just gonna start filming here.
Let's get a quick overview first before we tell you the story of this historical site.
Three levels, barely any vandalism but natural decay in a very advanced state.
Mold fungi are spreading and plaster is falling off the wall on a large-scale.
In combination with the vast amount of left-behind furniture this place becomes some kind of urbex goldmine.
When you take a look at the roof, it's no wonder that decay is proceeding so fast here.
Once this small hospital was a shelter for children that were suffering from lung diseases.
The remote location in the mountains and the numerous surrounding forests are providing healthy air which was necessary
to treat tuberculosis and other diseases.
In the 1930s this facility was opened.
So in the same period of time as Blue Chapel.
The property with lavishly laid out garden offered enough space for a great number of children.
Apparently only boys were treated here.
This was a facility of the church, so especially nuns were nursing the sick.
That's the reason why there's also a small chapel that we just discovered on the second floor.
During the time of World War II, the hospital wasn't operated.
As a result, partisans who were fighting the fascist regime of Italy settled down here.
For a few months in 1944 this place became a sickbay for the guerilla troops.
Due to the size and the numerous spacious dorm rooms the institution was a perfect fit for that.
But when German troops were coming closer and closer the facility had to be cleared.
Nazi soldiers were now occupying the hospital.
But the young doctors who were supporting the cause of the partisans
became famous and are a symbol of resistance even today.
In these rooms they have risked their lives to liberate Italy from the dictatorship at that time.
After the war, the building then was used as a health center for respiratory disorders until the end of the 1960s.
Since then it's been abandoned.
Many years there weren't any potential buyers at auction sales.
Until the derelict site found a new owner in 2018.
Around the time of our exploration the hospital was handed over to a company
that wants to run a veterinarian clinic here in near future.
So, after 50 years of vacancy there's now finally hope for this historical building.
And we might be one of the last people who will ever be able to see the place in such an advanced state of decay.
That’s it for today thanks for watching.
But don’t switch off just yet because I would like to share something really exciting with you.
Do you remember Globe School?
In episode six of our Italy series we were documenting this place.
What’s so special about this abandoned site is that it offers a completely untouched classroom
which allowed a glance back into the past.
As a result one of our viewers was inspired so much
that she created a mashup of the classroom and sent it to us.
And guys, just look how big this picture is!
You can see right away how much time and love has been invested here.
Just take a look at all those fine details.
Thank you so much, Sandy! I still cannot realize how awesome this present is.
And the fact that you've sent in from the United States right here to Germany makes it even more special to us
And that’s not even the first time someone crafted BWT fan art.
A great Chinese artist created this work.
It has the title “BWT Factory”.
It was even presented on an exhibition in England.
We were super happy about that.
If you want to see those images in detail, you can find the links to them in the video description down below.
We just want to take a moment to simply say thank you to the whole community.
You know it's so cool to see how much we can inspire you out there
and to read through all this motivating comments and messages we receive from you every day.
So if you want to contribute something by yourself, it might be fan art or whatever.
Or maybe you just want to get in touch with us.
You can use the email address you can find them in the video description.
So yeah, we're really looking forward to read your messages.
For me, it's stunning how much we've already achieved together as a community
and we're really looking forward to what else we can accomplish in the future.
Next time on Broken Window Theory:
Somewhere in the rolling hills of Tuscany this giant concrete monstrosity is located.
Also here children were growing up in the past.
This place used to be a vacation home with an extensive hospital ward.
But due to a terrible accident the whole facility had to shut down.
Today mold is conquering the endless hallways and rooms of this impressive structure.
Don’t forget to bring your respirator for this next one.
The college with beautiful church or the sanatorium with incredible decay –
which one of those two places do you find more fascinating?
We’re looking forward to read your opinions in the comments!
Because as we just mentioned we’re happy about every new input from our community.
Thanks for being part of our project BWT, guys!