Torcello Island Venice Italy

Angel: My dear Oriane, of all the islands in the Venetian lagoon, the island of Torcello particularly appeals to me for its wild and mysterious side.

Oriane: But it’s far away! How do you get to Torcello?

Angel: Several solutions are possible: by vaporetto with lines 4.2 and 12 from Fundamente Nuove, or with Alilaguna, because by swimming you won’t get there.

Oriane: Especially you! And why would Torcello be mysterious?

Angel: Pffff, I’ve got my swimming flake. The island of Torcello is very special in the lagoon, it used to be the most populated island, then the population migrated to what is now Venice. But little is known about this period.

And so Oriane & Angel set off to investigate the island of Torcello.

Angel:Change is now!

Oriane:hein?

Angel:we’re in Murano Faro, we need to change vaporetto.

Oriane:Already? It wasn’t under warranty?

Angel:Nonsense, I’m curious what we’ll discover in Torcello.

On these links you can go directly to the Torcello page on the corresponding part:

• The history of Torcello
• Torcello Museum and Santa Fosca Church
• Santa Maria Assunta Cathedral, Torcello
• Torcello’s bell tower
• Torcello’s restaurants

The isle Torcello was already inhabited in Roman times, at least from the first two centuries A.D., as remains of Roman houses from this period have been discovered there.
Analysis of the remains found at Torcello suggests that a tidal wave destroyed the town around the 5th century, before Torcello was repopulated from the 6th century onwards.
An inscription inside the basilica indicates that a church built in 639 stood on the site of the present-day basilica.
The Christian population of Altino, fleeing invasions from Lombardy, had settled here. Its most important development took place between the 7th and 11th centuries, thanks in particular to the wool trade and the exploitation of salt marshes. In the Middle Ages, Torcello had around 10,000 inhabitants, 10 churches and even an episcopal see.
The basilica, as it stands today, bears witness to its heyday at the very beginning of the 11th century. Then the population gradually moved to the island of Rivo Alto (originally Rialto), where it founded the Venice of today.
Although up to 20,000 inhabitants, mainly merchants, lived here until the 17th century, malaria epidemics and a gradual silting-up of the island from the early 13th century led them to eventually abandon Torcello.
The numerous monuments were dismantled by Venetian architects, who used the marble and sculptures to decorate the palaces.

Angel: there’s not much here… Just this canal… And no one…

A green toad: Croaaaa!

Oriane:who’s talking to us?

The green toad: You could say hello when you take a walk in Torcello….

Angel: Oh, sorry! Hello! Do you live here?

The green toad: yes, with a few humans, a dozen minus one, but mostly ducks, herons, coypu, a few insects… It takes some to feed… The humans are gone. I think it’s because there are hardly any sheep left… Some, like you, come to visit. Would you like to follow me?

And off we went along a long, narrow canal lined with a few large houses, to a very old bridge without a parapet. A black cat was waiting for us there.

The green toad: dive! it’s the devil!

Angel: What do you say toad?

Oriane: the toad has dived!

Angel: he said “it’s the devil!”. Who was he talking about?

The black cat: Meowuuuu! About me, maybe… I can’t help it, it’s because of the legend.

Oriane effrayée:if it’s just a legend that’s reassuring, but do you, as a cat, believe in any legends? If not, are you the devil?

The black cat: No legend is just any legend, so I’m going to tell you the story of the devil’s bridge, the legend behind its name: il ponte del diavolo… You can tell me what you think afterwards, it will enlighten me too….

The Black Cat: During the Austrian occupation a young Venetian girl was secretly living a beautiful love affair with an Austrian officer despite her family’s prohibition, until the young man was stabbed during a night patrol. The young girl, certain of her parents’ hatred, immediately suspected them. Desperate, she locked herself in her room, refusing to eat.

Oriane: Ohhhh! How sad!

Angel: Don’t cut out the cat story!

The black cat: It’s not my story! The story belongs to no one… Or everyone!

Oriane: We don’t even know what your name is.

Le chat noir: On appelle un chat un chat, je continue.
A family friend then introduced him to a witch, an old Jewish lady named Esther who invoked the devil. He agreed to bring her lover back to life, in exchange for the souls of seven Christian children. He arranged to meet the two women in Torcello on the night of December 24-25. At midnight, the devil appeared, pulled a golden key from under his tongue and handed it to the witch. Just as she threw it into the water, the young Austrian officer appeared on the other side of the bridge. The two lovers embraced and disappeared into the mist forever.
The witch broke the pact and died in a fire.
Since then, the devil returns to the bridge every night from December 24 to 25 in the guise of a black cat, hoping that the witch will bring him the 7 souls of the children.

The black cat: so, do you think I’m the devil?

Oriane: no because it’s not the night of December 24-25…

Angel: yet this black cat talks!

Oriane: Strange indeed! It’s not just any cat…

The black cat: Since you think I’m not just any cat, and if I’m not the devil, then you’re ready to discover more secrets about this island….

Angel: what secrets? Where should we go?

The black cat: the seat of Attila, the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the ancient baptistery next to it, and so many others… Go straight ahead, over the bridge, everything is between the trees, like grass rugs for siesta…

Between the olive and cypress trees, we come to a small square where grass and cobblestones mingle. In addition to the main monuments and the museum entrance, there’s a magnificent open-air exhibition.

The tour begins outside, with very old wells, column fragments, chapel, sarcophagi, bas-reliefs and a lovely collection of bocche di leone.
But above all, it’s a marble throne, known as Attila’s throne, that grabs our attention. Resting in the shade of an olive tree, marked with the Templar cross and a faintly visible crest, it seems to be there for the sole purpose of arousing our curiosity!
According to legend, which to make a long story short was recounted to us by an ashy heron from the surrounding marshes, this throne was that of Attila, king of the Huns.
But if so, why were his symbols affixed to it? Our learned black cat fell asleep for his nap…
Impossible to know more. What is certain is that it was used in Torcello by representatives of the law.

The interior of the museum consists of two distinct parts.
The first part of the Museum of Torcello, housed in the Palazzo dell’archivio, features archaeological objects from prehistoric times to the early Christian era.
On display are ceramics, bronzes, fragments of statues and funerary monuments from all these periods.
The second part of the Torcello Museum, housed in the Palazzo del Consiglio (Palazzo del Consiglio), presents works (mosaics, paintings, statues), objects and documents that trace the medieval and modern history of the island of Torcello and the wider region, with a strong imprint of Byzantine culture.
Among the objects that caught our eye was a small bronze spearhead from the Middle Ages featuring curious astrological symbols and an inscription in runic letters. Perhaps it was used to write predictions and wishes.
Do we dare disturb our wise cat during his nap to find out more?

Our discovery of Santa Maria Assunta Cathedral:

This sumptuous Venetian-Byzantine-style cathedral, was built around the year 1000, on the ruins of the church, which according to a precious inscription, had been built in 639 for the Ravenna exarch Isaac during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius.

Modified, embellished and enlarged over the centuries until the 13th, the present-day basilica still preserves some of its remains.
From the moment you enter the building, you are impressed by the mystical atmosphere that reigns here. Ten windows on the nave’s south side wall illuminate the interior. On either side, nine Greek marble columns consolidated by connecting wooden beams separate the central nave from two side aisles. There are thus three naves in this basilica.

The presbytery is bounded at the seventh column level: three small columns on either side are linked by beautiful 11th-century marble transoms depicting biblical animals (lions and peacocks drinking from a chalice).
They support a very fine 15th-century iconostasis depicting the Virgin and Child and the Twelve Apostles, which is surmounted by a fine, more recent wooden crucifix.

Traces of the old church’s black-and-white pavement can be seen, which was raised by 30 cm when it was rebuilt in the early 11th century.
The current pavement, rebuilt in the 13th century, is absolutely magnificent: using polychrome tesserae, it forms geometric designs, circles, lozenges, squares, with trompe l’oeil volumes, in Arabic style.
The altar was rebuilt in 1939. In front of it, a grille closes off access to a pit housing the sarcophagus containing relics of Saint Heliodore, local bishop and friend of San Jeremiano.

The apsectus cupola, open to the east through a skylight, is entirely covered in mosaics with a predominantly golden tone.
The main figure is the virgin Mary, depicted according to Byzantine standards, richly dressed in a blue tunic and veil with three golden crosses, one on her forehead and the others on her shoulders.
On her right arm, she carries the infant Jesus and his scrolls of the law, indicating that this is the only way to salvation, and in her left hand, a white handkerchief, symbolizing Christ’s shroud.
At her feet is the Latin inscription “Formula virtutis, maris astrum, porta salutis, prole Maria levat quos coniuge sabdivit Eva” which means: “Formula of virtue, star of the sea, door of salvation, Mary and her offspring free men from the original sin committed by Eve and her husband.”

Below are the twelve apostles named in full and recognizable by their attributes.
They stand on a meadow of poppies, the plant of the lagoon. Beneath the skylight is the throne of the Bishop of Altino (Torcello’s patron, depicted on a mosaic added more recently), reached by ten steps symbolizing the Ten Commandments.

The light coming from the east is thus the central point of a cross that links Mary and the infant Jesus, the twelve apostles and the bishop.

The right-hand aisle features the Massacre of the Innocents, a painting by the Veronese school (16th century), and a Romanesque Madonna and Child (late 13th century).
It opens onto the right side chapel, featuring magnificent mosaics, the final version of which dates from the 12th century.
In the lower section, from right to left, Saint Augustin, Saint Ambrose, Saint Martin and Saint Gregory the Great, illustrious doctors of the church.
They are separated by poppies, the flower symbolizing the island of Torcello and the lagoon.
Above, the inscription reads in Latin that “God is a triple person but one essence.”
And that “He clothes the earth with grass, makes the seas spread out and lights up the sky“.
Then, above, from his throne and surrounded by two angels, Christ blesses the Saints. This is a Christian version of the pagan theme of Zeus, King of Olympus (i.e. Earth, Sea and Heaven combined).

In the left nave, in addition to several tombs, the remains of a 12th-century fresco, and a small 9th-century font, there’s a small retable by Tintoretto: the Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy.
It’s from this nave that you reach two ambos linked together by a common staircase. The lower one is supported by a single, polygonal column, while the second, more richly decorated and taller one is supported by 4 slender columns.
On the staircase, very finely decorated marble plaques are rich in detail and symbols. Here, for example, we see the representation of the pagan theme of kairos (the favorable moment): time is represented by a figure mounted on winged wheels.
A man smoothing his beard tries to hold him back by one arm, a woman seems desperate to have let him pass, while a young man manages to grab him by the head and stop him.

When you look at the door to the church’s original exit, you’re struck by the richness of the highly figurative 11th- and 12th-century mosaic that covers the entire wall.
This is the jlast judgment, which reminds the departing worshipper, very explicitly, of what awaits every Man at the moment of his death.
The scene can be read from top to bottom. At the top, the crucified Jesus is surrounded by Mary and St John the Evangelist. The blood gushing from his side wound recalls his human nature.
Below, the scene represents Christ victorious over evil and death.
Carrying the cross like a weapon in his left hand, he crushes the devil and the gates of Hell with his feet. With his right hand he raises Adam from the realm of the dead, while Eve, depicted just behind in red, is at prayer.
Behind, Kings David and Solomon salute this victory, while on the other side of the stage, Saint John the Baptist, followed by the prophets, points to it as a teacher would.
On either side, the two archangels Michael and Gabriel, richly dressed like Byzantine emperors, close the shot.
The next shot focuses once again on Christ. This time, He appears in an almond to symbolize His divine nature in a corporeal envelope.
He shows the pains of the Passion to the Virgin and St. John the Baptist, who plead with Him on behalf of Men.
This scene is framed by two angels covered in precious stones again in the Byzantine manner, followed by a multitude of angels and above all the twelve apostles dressed in white.
An important detail is worth noting: Christ’s almond is supported by two angels whose wings are covered with eyes, symbols of God’s vision.
A stream of flames descends from the almond to feed hell two planes below.
But first let’s look at the fourth plane. Here we see the throne of triumph on the cross, with the instruments of passion – the cross, the crown of thorns, the spear and the sponge – as well as the book which, according to the account in Revelation, will only be unsealed at the hour of the Last Judgment.
Kneeling before this throne, Adam and Eve, symbols of humanity, beg for mercy. On either side are two scenes of the resurrection of the dead instrumented by trumpet-playing angels: the one on the left shows the dead wrapped in their shrouds emerging from the bowels of the earth, and the one on the right shows the dead at sea returning to life.
Another angel rolls up the starry sky that will disappear at the moment of resurrection, i.e. at the end of the world.
Below, surrounding the door, we enter the concrete, the one that should strike the faithful as they leave the church like a warning! This is the weighing of souls.
Archangel Gabriel weighs good and evil, while the devils try to tip the scales in their favor with long poles. On the left, the elect and, below them, the Garden of Paradise, with Saint Peter holding the keys and the Archangel Saint Michael leading souls there.
On the right, Hell and the damned: red angels chase the proud into the flames, while Lucifer sits enthroned on his knees, carrying the Antichrist in the guise of a child whose false innocence deceives mankind.
Below, six panels describe the punishments of the 6 other deadly sins! The lustful are deprived of everything, the greedy gnaw their fists, the hot-tempered calm their anger under deep water, the envious have their orbits eaten away by worms, the avaricious have nothing left but their heads uselessly adorned with jewels, and the lazy have their skulls, feet, hands and bones scattered! What a program!