The Island of San Michele ( it, isola di San Michele, ; vec, ìxoła de San Michièl) is an island in the Venetian Lagoon,

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

, 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 re ...

. It is associated with the

sestiere A (plural: ) is a subdivision of certain Italian towns and cities. The word is from (‘sixth’), so it is thus used only for towns divided into six districts. The best-known example is the ''sestieri'' of Venice, but Ascoli Piceno, Genoa, M ...

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 Mauro Codussi (1440–1504) was an Italian architect of the early- Renaissance, active mostly in Venice. The name is also rendered as ''Coducci''. He was one of the first to bring the classical style of the early renaissance to Venice to replace ...

'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 ideas ...

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, 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

gondola The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, ...

s. The cemetery is still in use today. The cemetery contains 7

war graves War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...

from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

of officers and seamen of the British

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

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 F ...

.
CWGC Cemetery Report. Princess

Aspasia Manos Princess Aspasia of Greece and Denmark (born Aspasia Manos el, Ασπασία Μάνου; 4 September 1896 – 7 August 1972) was a Greek aristocrat who became the wife of Alexander I, King of Greece. Due to the controversy over her marriage, ...

, the wife of King

Alexander of Greece Alexander ( el, Αλέξανδρος, ''Aléxandros''; 1 August 189325 October 1920) was King of Greece from 11 June 1917 until his death three years later, at the age of 27, from the effects of a monkey bite. The second son of King Constanti ...

, 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 Tatoi ( el, Τατόι, ) was the summer palace and estate of the former Greek royal family. The area is a densely wooded southeast-facing slope of Mount Parnitha, and its ancient and current official name is Dekeleia. It is located from t ...

near Athens. Other attractions include the Cappella Emiliana chapel.

Burials

Those buried on the Island of San Michele include: *

Catherine Bagration Princess Catherine Bagration (russian: Екатерина Павловна Багратион) née Skavronskaya (7 December 1783 – 21 May 1857 or 2 June 1857) was a Russian princess, married to general Pyotr Bagration. She was known for he ...

(1783-1857), princess and beauty * Franco Basaglia (1924-1980), psychiatrist *

Joseph Brodsky Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; russian: link=no, Иосиф Александрович Бродский ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), USSR in 1940, ...

(1940-1996), poet and essayist *

Horatio Brown Horatio Robert Forbes Brown (16 February 1854 – 19 August 1926) was a Scottish historian who specialized in the history of Venice and Italy. Born in Nice, he grew up in Midlothian, Scotland, was educated in England at Clifton College and Oxfor ...

(1854-1926), historian *

Roberto Calasso Roberto Calasso (30 May 1941 – 28 July 2021) was an Italian writer and publisher. Apart from his mother tongue, Calasso was fluent in French, English, Spanish, German, Latin and ancient Greek. He also studied Sanskrit. He has been called "a l ...

(1941-2021), writer and publisher *

Ashley Clarke Sir Henry Ashley Clarke (26 June 1903 – 20 January 1994) was a British diplomat who was ambassador to Italy. Later he was chairman of the Venice in Peril Fund. Early life Henry Ashley Clarke was a son of Henry Hugh Rose Clarke (a son of Col. ...

(1903-1994), diplomat * Antonio Dal Zòtto (1841-1918), sculptor *

Salvador de Iturbide y Marzán , image = Salvador de Iturbide y Marzán (1865).jpg , caption = , spouse = Baroness Gizella Mikos de Taródháza , issue = * Princess Maria Josepha Sophia * Princess María Gizella Anna * Princess María ...

(1849-1895), grandson of first emperor of independent Mexico *

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...

(1872-1929), ballet impresario *

Christian Doppler Christian Andreas Doppler ( (); 29 November 1803 – 17 March 1853) was an Austrian mathematician and physicist. He is celebrated for his principle – known as the Doppler effect – that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative ...

(1803-1853), mathematician and physicist *

Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera Gavilán (; 10 April 1910 – 9 November 1997) was an Argentine, naturalized French, football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success with the Inter Milan team known as ''Grande Inter'' in the 1960s. During ...

(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 ...

(1909-2005), painter and printmaker *

Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...

(1924-1990), composer *

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

(1885-1972), poet and critic *

Frederick Rolfe Frederick William Rolfe (surname pronounced ), better known as Baron Corvo (Italian for "Crow"), and also calling himself Frederick William Serafino Austin Lewis Mary Rolfe (22 July 1860 – 25 October 1913), was an English writer, artist, ph ...

(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 repu ...

(1895-1996), violinist * Jean Schlumberger (1907-1987), jewelry designer *

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

(1882-1971), composer * Guido Toffoletti (1951-1999), musician *

Emilio Vedova Emilio Vedova (9 August 1919 – 25 October 2006) was a modern Italian painter. He is considered one of the most important artists to emerge from Italy's artistic scene, Arte Informale. Early life Vedova was born in Venice into a working-c ...

(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

References

{{Authority control Geography of Venice Cemeteries in Italy San Michele

History

Burials

Gallery

See also

References