Le isole minori

Many of the smaller islands around Venice, at present totally or partly abandoned by their inhabitants, were integrated in the past into a wide system of urban settlements. Some of them are being restored by the city of Venice or private individuals in order to bring them to a new life and activity.

CERTOSA

Named after the Friars “Certosini” who built a monastery in the island, it has been recently restored and became a base of IED –Istituto Europeo di Design and of a nautical pole.

LAZZARETTO NUOVO

This island was a quarantine and decontamination station. Its task was to prevent contagion to the city. The goods arriving by ships that might carry infection from their country of origin were unloaded and stored here . Passengers and ship crews could not leave the island till it was proven that they were not infected. Situated at the very entry of the Lagoon (3 km north-east from Venice) the island was used for strategic reasons, controlling the water ways to the inland since ancient times. Archaeological artefacts found on the site have proven the presence of humans since the Bronze Age. In 1468 by decree of the Serenissima Senate, a lazaret was found and it was named “Novo” (new) to distinguish it from the existing one called “Vecchio” (old), set close to the Lido, where evident cases of plague were admitted. During the XVIII century, the island’s medical use came to an end. Under Napoleonic rule, and later under Austrian control, it was used as part of the Lagoon military defence system ”the Fortifications". The island is now fully recovered and is an area of great historical and naturalistic importance. It has been transformed into an important centre for didactic, scientific and archaeological research, organizing guided tours, meetings and exhibitions and archaeological summer camps. Every year it welcomes nearly 15.000 visitors. The island can be reached by the public ACTV water bus no. 13, stopping on request.

SAN SERVOLO

San Servolo is the only island in the Lagoon to have been restored and rehabilitated by a public company, the Province of Venice that transformed it into a space for dialogue between different cultures and experiences, intended to welcome cultural events, study conferences and training courses, to cultivate memory and history. Here are the headquarters of the I.R.S.E.C. Foundation and the Venice International University (VIU). The island can be reached by the Actv water bus no. 20 leaving from San Zaccaria-Monumento, transit time 10 minutes.

VIGNOLE

For centuries this island was used as summer resort, then became part of the Lagoon military defence. Today the Venetians like to go there, or to Sant’Erasmo, on excursions by boat and maybe take a meal in one of their taverns.