The Monastery Church of San Michele

On day three… of my recent trip to photograph Venice Carnivale 2018, I managed to get a full day on the cemetery island of San Michele, between Venice and Murano. On previous visits, the monastery church has either not been open to visitors, or is in the process of being used for burial services… anyhow, this year I managed to get in for a visit…

The church of San Michele (St. Michael the Archangel) was built in 1469, on what was at the time 2 islands, and from that time, there was also a monastery. The canal in between was filled in to form 1 complete island, in 1836.

When Napoleon, entered Venice in 1807, he was concerned about the fresh-water supplies on the main Venetian Islands, being contaminated by burials in the numerous convents dotted around Venice, and so to this end, he declared that no more burials would take place in Venice, and that an Island in the lagoon would be selected… the island chosen, was the Church & Monastery island of  San Michele.

Although nowadays, Venetians, buried on the islands, arrive in motor-boat launches, for either burial or cremation, in days gone by… arrival was from a special funeral gondola…