Santo Stefano or Boxing Day in the cemetery | Isola di San Michele with Murano in the background |
Well, I think my friends think I've finally lost the plot, after I told them that one of the hi-lights of my Christmas in Venice, was the time I spent wandering around the Cemetery island of San Michele!
I'd been intrigued by the walled island, with its graceful cypress trees ever since I'd seen it from Fondamente Nuova during my last trip to Venice 6 months previously, but hadn't had the opportunity (or time) to get any nearer than the views I had from the No 13 vaporetto, travelling to and from Sant Erasmo.
So, mid morning, I alighted from the vaporetto, after the short journey from Fondamente Nuova with about 6 other passengers.
I spent quite a while looking at the inscriptions and photos of the deceased occupying the small spaces of the ossiary, before moving on to look at the gravestones in the next section. I hadn't realised how large the island was, or how long I spent there - I was fascinated by the 'stories' each gravestone told of its occupant either by the photograph, or by engravings or personal effects on the tomb, or tokens that had been left by visitors. As it was Christmas, some graves had Christmas trees, some strewn with decorations. One strange occurance happened while I was wandering around one of the many ossiaries, when I could hear a faint sound, that I couldn't work out what it was, it wasn't entirely pleasant. It took me a few minutes to realise it was a battery operated plastic decoration, that was playing christmas songs - quite bizzare to hear Jingle Bells and 'Here comes Santa Claus', even more so as its battery was fading, so it was playing v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.
Later on I came across 3 more all playing different tunes and at different speeds- Quite surreal!!
to be continued... |
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