Previously on Broken Window Theory:
We completed the first of nine full days of urban exploration in Italy.
The last location we visited, was this enormous abandoned factory.
Homeless people and illegal refugees are squatting inside the building complex.
So, we weren’t sure if we should enter the site in the first place.
But later we were glad we did it!
We have experienced one of the most stunning natural decay we have seen inside an abandoned factory so far.
But we bet we will even find more impressive spots in those upcoming days.
Meanwhile it’s the second day of our Italy adventure and we’re heading to the next location.
The Italian photographer Tobi is showing us the way to a very remarkable place.
Today we have a special mission:
We want to explore an abandoned mental asylum which is still partly in use.
Along for the ride are Michael and Bryan from The Proper People
Who invited us to join them for a bit on the journey through Europe.
After several years of vacancy, this area became an impenetrable jungle.
But the thicket is a perfect visual cover, so we can move unseen on the property.
Everywhere we can spot old houses but we don’t know yet
which ones are really abandoned and which ones are still in use.
Only from the air the dimensions become apparent.
The over 12-hectare big compound consists of 20 buildings in total.
And most of them are arranged symmetrically.
By now all of them have become overgrown and in a lot of the houses are still furnishings left behind.
Sounds really good, right? But to be honest: This facility wasn’t even part of our original route.
We decided to go here spontaneously.
That’s why we don’t have any expectations at all.
So, let's take a look in the first building.
A haunting atmosphere unfolds in these rooms.
Apparently, this building used to be the cafeteria because this reminds of a kitchen.
The roofed-over inner yard was probably where patients and employees used to eat back then.
Today it’s totally overgrown and it became impossible to move here.
But the highlight of this place is the small chapel in our opinion.
Okay, now we are hooked!
The first building was already more impressive than a lot of the abandoned places we have explored in the past.
So, now we want to see and know more of this site.
Already in the 19th century one of the few mental institutions of the region were located in this town.
In the 1930s a new and more modern hospital complex was built.
It’s the one we’re exploring today.
In the past this facility was ranked as one of the biggest psychiatries in all of Italy.
Even a theater and a church are part of the site and we’re going to explore them later as well.
It’s alarming to see what was left behind here.
We found miles of paper!
Not in one single room but even in multiple buildings.
Next to finance stuff there are especially medical records full of personal information we shouldn’t reveal at all.
But even cases of death are listed there.
According to our sources the clinic was relying on a questionable electroshock therapy.
They even resort to experimental approaches which were totally inhuman from a present-day perspective.
And suddenly it feels like this facility is a place of pain and misery.
Every new building we are entering carries a rather bitter aftertaste to it.
But the worst episode of this place hasn’t been told yet.
At the end of World War Two the psychiatric hospital became the scene of a cruel massacre.
A group of communist partisans carried off around 70 fascists soldiers from a prison camp nearby
and brought them to the compound of the asylum.
The staff was forced to leave the property and the resistance fighters started to beat and torture their prisoners.
Some of them were even bound with wire and ran over by trucks on the court repeatedly.
Still today – more than 70 years later – people are commemorating the victims of this terrible massacre.
By now we have seen several of those buildings from the inside.
Apparently, only one of the 20 buildings is still in use today.
But we just realized that one single day isn’t enough to explore the whole compound.
Especially when we’re planning to visit two more abandoned sites today.
So, that’s why we’re now limiting ourselves to the highlights of this psychiatry.
In this rather inconspicuous looking building is the theater we were telling you about before.
The entrance in an Art Deco style already looks really promising.
But that’s not what we have expected…
This auditorium is the reason why many urban explorers come here in the first place.
The partly collapsed roof is hurrying along the ongoing decay which makes this place the perfect scenery for photo and video shoots.
To our big surprise there was even the historical projector left behind in the building.
For more of those pictures make sure to check out the content of our Italian friend tobi_urbex.
After ten days of urban exploration with him, it turned out that we are all on the same wavelength.
So, after careful deliberation, we decided to invite him to join us.
Now we are really happy to announce that - from now on - Tobi is part of BWT.
You can find a link to our new crew member in the video description down below.
Last but not least we’re going to look at the church.
This building is right in the middle of the hospital complex
and all the other houses were arranged around it.
The architecture of the church looks rather modern.
But unfortunately, the place was already exposed to a lot of vandalism.
This abandoned asylum is a very impressive place with a moving history.
Mentally ill patients were treated under horrible conditions with experimental approaches.
Due to the cruel therapies some of the employees were turning against the director of this facility.
Until 1991 the area was used as a hospital and then shut down for good.
But as a psychiatry this place was only in use until 1978.
Because then the Basaglia Law became effective.
After the catastrophic conditions in nearly all of the Italian mental houses became public,
all of them were closed down.
Since then several old asylums have been rotting away in Italy.
On our journey through the country we are going to explore three more of such structures.
And every single one of them has its own horrible story to tell.
Next time on Broken Window Theory:
We’re traveling to the next two abandoned sites for this day.
At first, we’re visiting this stunning castle which looks like it would originate from a fairy tale.
And after this, we’re heading to a forbidden ghost town
with one of the most beautiful abandoned churches we have explored so far.
This was part three of our Italy series.
We’re probably going to upload ten more episodes of this adventure.
So, if you like what you see on our channel, feel free to support us with a subscription on YouTube.
Or switch straight over to Patreon to help us there.
See you in the next video and keep exploring, guys!