Wednesday 23 November 2022 12:14 PM Inside an abandoned Italian psychiatric clinic where 70 World War II POWs were ... trends now
These new images depict the haunting past of an abandoned Italian psychiatric clinic that was hit by scandal over its use of inhumane techniques to treat patients and where scores of soldiers were executed during the Second World War.
More than 70 soldiers of the fascist Socialist Republic of Italy were massacred at Vercelli in Piedmont, northern Italy after being held in a nearby stadium used as a prison camp.
On May 12 1945 a group of partisans loaded the prisoners into cars and brought them to the asylum, locking them in after they had forced the staff to leave.
The prisoners were violently beaten and divided into groups.
More than 70 soldiers of the fascist Socialist Republic of Italy were massacred at Vercelli in Piedmont, northern Italy after being held in a nearby stadium used as a prison camp. On May 12 1945 a group of partisans loaded the prisoners into cars and brought to the asylum, locking them in after they had forced the staff to leave
The prisoners were violently beaten and divided into groups. Most were then executed using various horrific techniques - some were shot and others thrown out of windows, or crushed beneath the wheels of a lorry. Most were then executed using various horrific techniques - some were shot and others thrown out of windows, or crushed beneath the wheels of a lorry
Most were then executed using various horrific techniques - some were shot and others thrown out of windows or crushed beneath the wheels of a lorry.
In the 1960s the asylum's reputation plunged even further when many of its nurses accused the director of using 'psychologically violent' methods with patients.
The asylum, built in the 1930s, finally closed in 1978 as a result of the Italian Mental Health Act of 1978, Law 180.
Also known as 'Basaglia Law' after its main proponent, Italian psychiatrist Franco Basaglia, it contained a directive for the closure of all asylums and their replacement with community-based patient services.
(Pictured: A performance space in the asylum) In the 1960s the asylum's reputation plunged even further when many of its nurses accused the director of using 'psychologically violent' methods with patients. The asylum, built in the 1930s, finally closed in 1978 as a result of the Italian Mental Health Act of 1978, Law 180
After the closure of the psychiatric hospital the site was used as a regular hospital until 1991, when it was then shut down and replaced by a new hospital nearby. The images were captured by photographer Annalisa, 30, from Milan Italy on her Nikon D3100
Now considered one the most radical mental health legislation ever passed, Law 180 immediately prohibited admissions of new patients to mental hospitals and, after three years, admissions of previously admitted patients.
After the closure of the psychiatric hospital the site was used as a regular hospital until 1991, when it was shut
