Like many of the islands today in the Venice lagoon, the Lazaretto is uninhabited, but through the centuries it has played a vital role in the city's history. In the golden age of the 13th and 14th centuries, when Venice was a dominant European force, the Lazaretto was the island of quarantine. In a city republic, where wealth was based on the import and trade of foreign goods, all sailors and goods arriving in Venice were quarantined for 40 days to prevent introducing disease. Once on the island, the goods were smoked with a combination of cleansing and purgative herbs, like rosemary and juniper.

From the Lazaretto, you can see other islands in the north of the lagoon, including Burano, San Franceso del Deserto and Torcello.

Burano is inhabited, but still retains an air of an old-fashioned fishing village, where a daily catch of clams and crabs is hauled up to the port. Women of the island are experts in lace making, their traditional black clothes standing out in stark relief against the brightly painted houses.

San Francesco houses a monastery, while Torcello, which is known as 'la prima Venezia' the first Venice, is the site of Venice's first cathedral Santa Maria dell'Assunta, originally built in the 7th century.

Today about 30 of the islands in the lagoon remain uninhabited. Venice is now joined to the mainland by bridges, and main traffic routes have now changed, so these islands no longer benefit from their positions along the trading paths. But they shouldn't be neglected for too long. Ecologists, town planners and tourist developers anticipate a future of sustained ecotourism, based on increasing interest in the history of the islands.

Archeoclub D'Italia
Italian archaeological society, with links to their work on the Lazaretto. In English and Italian.

A history of Venice
A concise history of Venice, with information on the islands.

About Venice
Discover the legends and treasures of Burano, with links to Murano and Torcello.