San Michele

The Cemetery Island of Venice

The island of San Michele as seen from the lagoon

Picture by Gary Huston 06.08.2005.

The island of San Michele is located four hundred metres north-east of Venice from which it is separated by the Canale delle Fondamente Nuove.

The island was formerly a fishing port and served as a final stopover for travellers to Venice. A Franciscan monastery was established there in the tenth century and prospered to such an extent that by 1469 its monks were able to commission the construction of Venice's first renaissance church, the San Michele in Isola.

The San Michele in Isola, designed by Mauro Codussi, was constructed in white Istrian stone with a nave and two aisles. The interior of the church is calm and austere and is adjoined by a funerary chapel, the Cappella Emiliani. The monk's cloister, notable for its classical colonnades, is located at the rear of the church.

The Franciscan Cloister at the rear of the San Michele in Isola

© Daniel Horn - FOTOLIA

The monks endeavour to preserve the calm dignified atmosphere on San Michele. The cemetery is buttressed from the sea by a low brick wall and interspersed with ornamental cypress trees. It was formerly part of the abbey's extensive gardens.

The cemetery begins immediately behind the cloister, and the graves become progressively more numerous until virtually every space is covered with tombs and monuments of every shape, size and design.

Funerary Monuments at the San Michele cemetery

The San Michele Cemetery

The cemetery is in fact located on the former island of San Cristoforo which was once separated from San Michele by a narrow channel filled with rubble in 1836. It was established by the French who prohibited burials in Venice after they invaded the city in 1797.

San Michele was also used as a prision island during the mid-19^th century.

Several celebrities are buried on the island. The likes of Ignor Stravinksy and Ezra Pound were taken there on funerary barges, laid out in the Cappella Emiliani, and interred in splendid tombs.

Unlike many laid to rest on San Michele, their remains will not be disinterred after a few decades, and deposited in a communal pit in order to make space for new arrivals.

The Island of San Michele can be reached by vaporetto from the Fondamente Nuove. The crossing takes less than ten minutes.

Murano Burano Torcello Lido San Michele San Giorgio Giudecca Sitemap