Shrouded in myth and superstition, the Lagoon was once the preserve of fisherman and hunters. Marauders in the 5th and 6th Centuries drove the mainland dwellers to the safety of the marshy lagoon. Here they conquered their watery environment, which was protected from the open sea by thin sandbanks known as lidi. The lidi were created from silt washed down by the rivers of the Po delta. In the 13th Century the first murazzi were built, sea walls of angular stone to safeguard the lidi from erosion.

Burano
Burano is the most colourful of the lagoon islands. Lying in a lonely expanse of the northern lagoon, it is distinguished from a distance by the tall dramatically tilted tower of its church. In contrast to the desolate Torcello lying to its northwest, the island is densely populated its waterways lined by brightly painted houses. The Buranese are fishermen and lacemakers by trade. In the 16th Century the local lace was the most sought after in Europe. It was so delicate it was known as 'purito in aria' or 'points in the air'.
Lace and fishing are still very important to the Buranese and merchants to the well-to-do from Europe still make a pilgramage here to buy their lace.

Mazzorbo
Linked to Burano by a foot bridge, Mazzorbo is an island of orchards and gardens. The only surviving church is the Romanesque/Gothic Santa Caterina although one or two others lie nearby in ruins. Ferries en route to Burano and Torcello pass through its canal.

San Francesco del Deserto
This little oasis of greenery, inhabited by friars, lies just south of Burano. There within the walls of the old church and its garden is said to grow a tree which sprouted from the staff of St Francis of Assissi.

Murano
Like the city of Venice, Murano comprises a cluster of small islands, connected by bridges. It has been the centre of the glassmaking industry since 1291, when the craftsmen moved their furnaces here to avoid spreading fire throughout the city. For the last two centuries it has been the principal glass producing centre of Europe. Murano's glass artisans were granted unprecedented privileges, but for those who left the island to found businesses elsewhere there were stiff penalties, including death.
The island is a miniature Venice in many ways. The island is allowed self government and mints its own coins and even has its own Golden Book listing the nobility. The population numbers over 30,000 people.

Buildings of Note :

Basilica dei Santi Maria e Donato

The islands architectural highlight is this basilica, whose magnificent collonaded apse is reflected in the waters of Canal Don Donato. This 12th Century church has Veneto-Byzantine columns and a Gothic 'ships keel' roof. An evocatively enchanting mosaic portrait of the Madonna, seen standing against a gold background, decorates the apse. The church floor, dating from 1140, is equally beautiful. With its mediaeval mosaics of geometric figures, exotic birds, mythical creatures and inexplicable symbols, it incorporates fragments of ancient glass from the island's foundries into its imagery.

San Michele
San Michele is a green and relatively unspoilt island dotted with dark Cypresses. The only building is the church of San Michele and its cemetery, built by Mauro Coducci in 1469.

Giudecca
The island is a pleasure ground of palaces and gardens. Originally named Spinalunga, or long spine, on account of its shape there are different theories on how its present name was given to it. One is that the name derived from the Jews ,or Giudei, who resided here in the 13th century but another more probable theory is that it came from the giudicati, or the judged, as this island was where troublesome aristocrats were banished as early as the 9th Century. There are a number of churches on the island no doubt to try to lead the errant nobles back to the straight and narrow.

Buildings of Note :

Il Redentore

The Giudecca's principal monument is Palladio's church of Il Redentore, the Redeemer, built between 1577 and 1592 in thanksgiving for the end of the 1576 plague, which wiped out a third of the city's population. Every year since its creation the Doge and his entourage visit the church, crossing from the Zattere on a bridge of boats. The feast of the Redeemer is celebrated on the third weekend of July.

The church of Il Redentore, styled on the architecture of ancient Rome, is a masterpiece of harmony and proportion. The Classical interior presents a marked contrast to the highly ornate and elaborate style of most Venetian churches. The main paintings are by Paolo Veronese and Alvise Vivarini and are located in the sacristy to the right of the choir.

Le Zitelle

Palladio's church of Le Zitelle was so named because it was adjoined by a hostel for spinster women, zitelle, who spent their time making the fine Venetian lace. What the old women think about the young hellrakes who share their island is anybody's guess.

San Giorgio Maggiore
Lying next to the Giudecca and across the water from the Palazzo Duccale, is the island of San Giorgio Magiorre. There has been a church on the island since the 9th Century and a Benedictine Monastery since the end of the 10th Century. Cosimo de Medici, in exile from Florence in the 15th Century founded the Monastery's library and the monks are famed for their erudition. A new monastery and church, designed by Palladio, were finished in 1610.

San Servolo
Situated in between San Marco and the Lido, San Servolo was one of the original monastery islands of Venice. Benedictine monks established themselves here in the 8th Century, and later added a hospital to their monastery.

Santa Maria della Grazia
Originally called La Cavana or Cavanell, the island lies just a short distance away from San Giorgio Magiorre. Formerly a shelter for pilgrims on their way to the Holy Lands, it became a monastery island in the 15th Century. The name was changed when the church that stands on the island was built to enshrine a miraculous image of the Virgin brought from Constantinople.

San Lazzaro degli Armeni
Lying just off the Lido, San Lazzaro degli Armeni is a small, very green monastery island. The buildings are surrounded by dark groves of Cypress trees. The small island served as an asylum in the 12th Century and later became a hospital island for lepers, named after their patron saint Lazarus. The lepers were then transferred to the Ospedale di San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti at Santi Giovanni e Paolo, leaving the buildings bare and derelict and to the minds of less educated folk, contaminated and dangerous.

Lido
The Lido is a slender sand bank 8 miles in length which forms a natural barrier between Venice and the open sea. There is little or no habitation on the Lido. What remains of the village of Malamocco in the southwestern corner, gives little indication it was the 8th Century seat of the lagoon's government. What remains is a small fishing village.
In the north of the island is the church and monastery of San Nicolo, founded in 1044 and rebuilt in the 16th Century. The nearby Jewish cemetery dates from 1386. The rest of the island is windswept grass and trees.

Le Vignole
Visible from the Lido is the Fortress of Sant'Andrea on the island of Le Vignole. Built by Michele Sanmichieli between 1435 and 1449 to guard the entrance to the lagoon, it is the only thing of note on this market garden island. It was bought by the Scuole di Mercere when the Scuola was founded in order that their mystickal work might be carried out in a safe place away from the city and its divine 'hot spots'.

San Clemente
From a refuge for pilgrims en route to the Holy Lands, the island of San Clemente became a hermitage and site of a monastery. During the Republic it was the island where Doges frequently met distinguished visitors but in 1630 the island was and abandoned for the last two decades.

Lazzaretto Vecchio
This small island served as a hospice for pilgrims travelling to the Holy Lands until a the great plague that claimed a third of Venice's population. Since then it has served as a home for those suffering from the plague. The island has a hospice and a small church which contains a venerated image of the Madonna.

Poveglia
Formerly called Popilia due to the polar trees that were widespread on the island, the island had its own government and a thriving little community till the war with Genoa in 1380. Devastated by the conflict it fell into decline and over the centuries has become a refuge for plague victims and an isolation hospital. It is distinguished by its low hump and tall tower that was once part of Venice's defence system and can be seen from the remains of Malamocco on the Lido.

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