VENICE, ITALY – Today Anne and I took a vaporetti from the island of Lido to Punta Sabbioni where we transferred to another vaporetti which stopped at Burano and then Torcello— a mysterious island and the site of the original Venice.
The museum’s guidebook says the inhabitants of Altino moved to Torcello to escape from barbarian invasions from the 5th to 7th centuries. Its greatest development occurred between the 7th and 10h centuries. But by the 15th century, the lagoon had become an unhealthy marsh and the economic activities moved to Rivoalto, today’s Venice.
We have visited Torcello two previous times in the past four years and each time we arrive there are new things to see and do. The first time we came we were practically the only visitors. The basilica was in ruins. Two years ago the interior had been restored magnificently and we were able to take a tour of the crypt area behind the main altar. This basilica is renowned for its glorious mosaics. Some of the finest medieval mosaics in Italy can be found here with Byzantine influences.
This Basilica of the Assumption is entirely dominated by the Virgin Mary. As you enter you see Mary and as you exit you see Mary (not Jesus) guiding souls up to Heaven.
This year we took the 15-minute audio tour which gave a detailed description and interpretation of the mosaics.
We also visited the smaller church next door where the crypt of Saints Fosca and Maura is kept. It appears that these two martyred women are entombed together.
On this visit we were delighted to see that the Bell Tower has finally been restored. It took us about a half-hour to reach the top and return. The view of the Venice Lagoon was breathtaking. This tower had an interesting construction: instead of steps leading to the top, brick ramps were interspersed with a few steps strategically placed here and there which grew steeper as we mounted the tower.
We enjoyed the museum, the garden’s Egyptian and Roman sculptures and statuary, the colorful vendors and a delightful lunch at the famous Devil’s Bridge restaurant.
One of the highlights found on the second floor of the Museum is a large wooden polychrome sculpture of Saint Fosca—and was the lid of a sarcophagus in which her body was buried in the church of that name here in Torcello created by a 15th century Veneto artist depicting the saint lying down.
For lunch we ordered 2 house special sandwiches at 8 euros each and shared a carafe of prosecco for 9 euros which yield 4 glasses. Then back to the vaporetti for the return trip to Lido.
Rick Steves knows about Torcello, and has featured it on one of his TV travel shows, but it is an island that is often overlooked in comparison to its neighboring islands of Burano and Murano. Today the site was extremely crowded as several boats full of people arrived frequently during the 5 hours we spent there.
There was a small charge to tour the basilica and the bell tower (9 euros each), the museum (3 euros) and the WC (1.50 euros).
The weather was just beautiful today and there was no better place to be than touring and relaxing on the island of Torcello
