Santa Maria della Grazia or La Grazia is an artificial island of the
Venetian lagoon, 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 ...
, which lies between the
Giudecca
Giudecca (; vec, Zueca) is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, in northern Italy. It is part of the '' sestiere'' of Dorsoduro and is a locality of the ''comune'' of Venice.
Geography
Giudecca lies immediately south of the central islands of Ve ...
and
San Clemente
San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway between ...
.
In 2016 the island was sold to a private company from
Treviso
Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Ven ...
, Giesse Investimenti s.r.l., to host a new resort.
History
Santa Maria della Grazia rose during the Middle Ages in the place where
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
’s rubble was discarded. The island takes its name from a supposedly miraculous Madonna which was on display in its former church.
In 1264 there was a home for pilgrims to the Holy Land; later it was transformed into a convent. During the Napoleonic period the convent was suppressed and changed to a powder-magazine, which in 1849 exploded destroying both the ex-convent and the church.
The island was the site of an infectious diseases hospital until the end of the twentieth century.
Gallery
File:Santa Maria della Grazia (Venice) from the air.jpg, Aerial view
File:La Grazia.JPG
File:Isola La Grazia.jpg
References
* ''Guida d’Italia del Touring Club Italiano'', Venice
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria Della Grazia
Islands of the Venetian Lagoon
Artificial islands of Italy