Isle of the Dead

   Venice is a beautiful and vibrant city that seems to exude the joy of life. However, across the channel from the main island the small Isola di San Michele, Venice’s cemetery island, looms like a shadow reminding people of life’s impermanence. Prior to the 1830’s Venetians had interred their deceased beneath the paving stones of the city’s streets. For obvious reasons, that was a bad idea so Isola di San Michele was chosen to be the new burial site. Originally, this island was actually two smaller islands that were close together. After being chosen as the cemetery site, the channel between the two islands was filled in to create one island. In 1469 the Chiesa di San Michele was built there, the first Renaissance church to be constructed in Venice. It was dedicated to Michael the Archangel who is also considered the protector of the island. Along with the church, the island houses a monastery that was also used as a prison for a time and a chapel called Capella Emiliana, built in 1530. Together, the chapel and the church frame the entrance to the cemetery today.

Arial view of Isola di Michele

 Bodies are taken to the island on special funeral gondolas. They actually only stay on the island temporarily. Because space is so limited, the bodies only remain there for about twelve years each before being exhumed and cremated or placed in an ossuary on the main island. San Michele is quite a beautiful place to be buried (for a while). Aside from the many tombstones competing for space, it looks like a large garden. Many different trees and shrubs populate the space and flowers adorn almost every tombstone. Unlike most cemeteries (American ones anyway) this one does not have a gloomy atmosphere. It feels more like a park where you could walk your dog or read a book. 

Crowded but pretty

The burial plots are all covered with stone slabs and are marked with many different types of tombstones and monuments, all of which are dutifully maintained. To conserve space, there are also sections of stacked marble tombs, each with a small flower holder. Most of the tombstones, besides being decorated with flowers, also display pictures of the people buried beneath them. A lot of Gothic architecture remains from the days of the monastery. Walls within the cemetery are inset with small family chapels and some family and individual burial plots are located beneath marble slabs in an elevated walkway along the wall. In the wealthier part of the cemetery, privileged families have their own freestanding chapels. There are actually different sections of the cemetery designated for different groups of people. There is one for foreigners, which, sadly, is rather neglected compared to the rest. Another is for wealthy people, yet another for children, etc.

Stacked tombs

To me, the overall atmosphere of the burial ground demonstrates a more positive attitude toward death. It is not a sad, depressing place haunted by the reality of death. Instead, it seems to show a more positive outlook toward human mortality. They have escaped the tragedies and hardships of the world. On Isola di Michele, peoples’ deaths are not mourned so much as their lives are celebrated.

• Toth, Susan. "Venice's Isle of the Dead." Archives. The New York Times, 15 May 1993. Web. 26 Nov. 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/16/travel/venice-s-isle-of-the-dead.html?src=pm&pagewanted=2&gt.
• "Isola Di San Michele." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Nov. 2014. Web. 26 Nov. 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isola_di_San_Michele&gt.