Encyclopedia • Islands

A true leap back in time, a wonderfully natural landscape and a great testimony to the tenacity of past populations. One of the places where jujubes are produced.

From being a place of meditation and peace, it was transformed into an island of pain, first as a military hospital and then as an asylum. Today, it has been reborn as an island of culture and thought, as well as a historical memory of the hospital…

One of the few abandoned islands in the northern lagoon which, thanks to an impressive restoration project, has been able to be reborn and is once again open to the public. A unique experience to get to know a piece of Venetian history that only few…

The island of San Giorgio Maggiore was transformed from an agricultural area into a Benedictine monastery in the 10th century. The complex, a masterpiece by Buora, Palladio and Longhena, includes the majestic Manica Lunga, the Refectory and the…

The largest and most densely populated island in the lagoon, known the world over for its bathing activities and the Film Festival. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, it was known as 'the golden island' with its 'Liberty lidense' style of…

It lights up in summer with the tradition of the Festa del Redentore, during the year it is one of the most Venetian places. A past of vegetable gardens, of cultivation, of industrial production. Flanked by the Island of San Giorgio at one end and…

A verdant island in the northern lagoon, once directly facing the Adriatic Sea, it is also called 'Orto di Venezia' (Venice's vegetable garden) in recognition of its typical agri-food production that is still active today. Far from the mass tourism…

Formerly known as Maiurbium, from the Latin Magna Urbs -Major City - at the time it was second in importance only to the nearby island of Torcello. One of the oldest bells in Europe is still preserved here.

After its religious past and its glorious past as an important cultural centre, St. Michael's Island is now known throughout the world for its cemetery; this is why it is also known as the Island of the Dead. It was once known as 'Cavana de Muran'…

Initially a place of worship and reception for crusaders and pilgrims returning from the Holy Land, it later became the world's first public hospital as well as the site of cutting-edge techniques for the prevention of infectious diseases.…

One of the oldest lagoon settlements and an evocative island par excellence. Set against the bright colours of nearby Burano, it is an area steeped in history, with monuments that tickle the imagination such as Attila's Throne and the Devil's Bridge.

Known the world over for its thousand-year-old art of glassmaking, it can almost be considered a snapshot of a Venice of bygone days, where only part of its territory is occupied by houses and buildings. A large area of the island is in fact still…