The Island of San Michele ( it, isola di San Michele, ; vec, ìxoła de San Michièl) is an island in the
Venetian Lagoon,
Veneto, northern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. It is associated with the
sestiere of
Cannaregio, from which it lies a short distance northeast.
History
Along with neighbouring San Cristoforo della Pace, the island was a popular place for local travellers and fishermen to land.
Mauro Codussi's
Chiesa di San Michele in Isola of 1469, the first
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
church in Venice, and a monastery lie on the island, which also served for a time as a prison.
San Cristoforo was selected to become a cemetery in 1807, designed by
Gian Antonio Selva
Gian Antonio Selva (2 September 1751 - 22 January 1819) was an Italian neoclassical architect.
Biography
He was born in Venice, the son of scientist Lorenzo Selva. He studied architecture in Venice, and was a pupil of the architect Tommaso Tema ...
, when under French occupation it was decreed that burial on the mainland (or on the main Venetian islands) was unsanitary. The canal that separated the two islands was filled in during 1836, and subsequently the larger island became known as San Michele. Bodies were carried to the island on special funeral
gondolas. The cemetery is still in use today.
The cemetery contains 7
war graves
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
from
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
of officers and seamen of the British
merchant and
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
.
CWGC Cemetery Report.
Princess
Aspasia Manos, the wife of King
Alexander of Greece, was initially interred at the cemetery of Isola di San Michele. Her remains were later transferred to the royal cemetery plot in the park of
Tatoi Palace near Athens.
Other attractions include the Cappella Emiliana chapel.
Burials
Those buried on the Island of San Michele include:
*
Catherine Bagration (1783-1857), princess and beauty
*
Franco Basaglia (1924-1980), psychiatrist
*
Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996), poet and essayist
*
Horatio Brown (1854-1926), historian
*
Roberto Calasso (1941-2021), writer and publisher
*
Ashley Clarke (1903-1994), diplomat
*
Antonio Dal Zòtto (1841-1918), sculptor
*
Salvador de Iturbide y Marzán (1849-1895), grandson of first emperor of independent Mexico
*
Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929), ballet impresario
*
Christian Doppler (1803-1853), mathematician and physicist
*
Helenio Herrera (1910-1997), footballer
*
Zoran Mušič
Zoran Mušič (12 February 1909 – 25 May 2005), baptised as Anton Zoran Musič, was a Slovene painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. He was the only painter of Slovene descent who managed to establish himself in the elite cultural circles of I ...
(1909-2005), painter and printmaker
*
Luigi Nono (1924-1990), composer
*
Ezra Pound (1885-1972), poet and critic
*
Frederick Rolfe (1860-1913), writer
*
Olga Rudge
Olga Rudge (April 13, 1895 – March 15, 1996) was an American-born concert violinist, now mainly remembered as the long-time mistress of the poet Ezra Pound, by whom she had a daughter, Mary.
A gifted concert violinist of international reput ...
(1895-1996), violinist
*
Jean Schlumberger (1907-1987), jewelry designer
*
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), composer
*
Guido Toffoletti (1951-1999), musician
*
Emilio Vedova (1919-2006), painter
Gallery
Chiesa di S.Michele in Isola, north exposure.jpg, Church ''S.Michele in Isola''
150405 San Michele.jpg, Walls of San Michele
Chapel of San Rocco.jpg, Chapel of San Rocco
San Cristoforo .JPG, San Cristoforo
Venice Cemetery Graves.JPG, Graves
See also
*
List of islands of Italy
References
{{Authority control
Geography of Venice
Cemeteries in Italy
San Michele