Venezia's Monumental Cemeteries: San Michele and the Lazzaretti

The Cimitero di San Michele in Isola, Venice's historic island cemetery, was created by joining two islets, San Cristoforo della Pace and San Michele, between 1835 and 1839. The project was initiated by Napoleon's 1804 Edict of Saint-Cloud, which mandated burials outside city centers for hygienic reasons. Architect Giannantonio Selva designed the cemetery, with construction completed in spring 1813. Later, Annibale Forcellini unified the complex with a semicircle of chapels. The cemetery is multi-confessional, with separate sections for Catholics, Evangelicals, Orthodox, and Jews. Notable burials include physicist Christian Doppler, composer Igor Stravinsky and his wife Vera, poet Ezra Pound, impresario Sergei Diaghilev, painter Emilio Vedova, and psychiatrist Franco Basaglia. Each year, a floating bridge over 400 meters long connects Fondamente Nove to the island for the commemoration of the dead. Separately, Venice's Lazzaretti islands pioneered quarantine. The Lazzaretto Vecchio, built in 1423 near the Lido, was the first lazaretto in history, housing the sick. The Lazzaretto Nuovo, established in 1468 at the entrance of the Sant'Erasmo canal, held suspected cases. Both are now part of a museum project for continuous public access.