Testaments of Pupils

The last step and here are three rather ghostly figures appearing in front of us. A woman and a man, with a child centered in his cradle, slowly whisper our names …

Location

The villa is located along the state road to Padua from Este.

 

History

Villa M. was built on the foundations of an ancient stronghold on the side of the Bisatto canal. In fact, before to its construction, there was a kind of upland, hump, given by the ruins of the preexisting strong medieval. It is necessary to know that the Atestino territory was full of fortified buildings built in the countryside to better explore the horizon on the arrival of warlike raids and to protect themselves in case of siege. And just that hump gave the name to the place where is now the fraction of M.. “PALAZZO M.” was later headquartered of T. Elementary School until 1987.

Description

The place at first glance is interesting. Despite the weeds that everywhere hinder our path, we are able to reach a shed, detached from the rest of the building. We explore from the last room at the bottom that turns out to be a small classroom. The chairs and benches are still arranged even under several centimeters of dust. Up the stairs we come up in dossiers, documents and books everywhere: a fully stocked warehouse for all this “unused paper”.

We enter the school through a door left open. The ground floor is full of objects: costumes, newspaper articles, calendars, a television, masks and even a turntable! Another room is full of bulky mattresses. We leave the room and enter in a corridor that, going to the left, takes us to the bathrooms. Going back and taking the right we get to another room with inside a closet full of clothes of all kinds and colors. Behind the wardrobe a crucifix, a doll, a map of the area and trophies. Everything is very disturbing given the presence of this doll that reminds us of many of the horror movies we saw when we were still children.

We get out of the door from where we first entered and through the outside stairs we reach the first floor. Through a floor covered with bird droppings we move silently to the exploration of the rooms. Nothing interesting till when, in the last room, there is something that makes us realize that this place is really what remains of an elementary school. Benches and chairs, all crowded, with a blackboard attached to the wall. Up on some benches have been left some drawings, most likely drawn and colored by the children of the time.

We leave the mezzanine to venture in the upper part. The cramping of the stairs accompanies our steps up to the top floor. As we approach, an odor of old and dead invests our bodies. The last step and here are three very ghostly figures appearing in front of us. A woman and a man, with a child in his cradle in the center, slowly whisper our names … By approaching and lightening on them we understand that they are just statues representing Jesus child with Mary and St. Joseph. Nothing demonic, nothing bad, only our imagination worked too hard this time. By moving we explore the somewhat perilous area. Furniture and chairs cover the whole area leaving holes in the remaining part of floor. Walking and paying attention to where to put our feet, we enter a room and, just before us, a somewhat macabre scenario: a dozen pigeons (or rather what is left of them) hanged on the beams with strings. We can not understand how this is possible, as it might have happened. Whether they were by man or somehow trapped in the tangle of spikes that invaded the room. Not having much time, with some pain in the heart, we approach the stairs to get off and leave behind us that little of good we’ve seen.

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