A Venetian Easter Story & Neighborhood Walk
Neighborhood Guide #1: San Zaccaria - San Lorenzo. This is the story of our neighborhood in Venice, told by Nonna Lina.
In a few days, the Easter week will begin, which always makes me recall a special story, of how Nonna showed her little part of Venice to a guest who had been dreaming of visiting the city for decades.
So you’re now in for a little walk outside the garden around our neighborhood, taking in the fresh spring colors. It’s a walk towards the ancient church and campo San Lorenzo, which until the 12th century was closely connected to the San Zaccaria monastery. You must know that the San Zaccaria gardens were quite large at first, stretching from Campo della Bragora (Castello) far into today’s sestiere di San Marco, to the Grand Canal and the San Moisé area.
Today’s story is about a guest from southern Italy, who had arrived late on Friday, practically disappeared on Saturday, and on Palm Sunday in the morning, he finally came up to us and said: “I’m done with Venice. Everywhere I go, I’m surrounded by crowds, pigeons, sea gulls, and cheap eats. Waiters call out to me forever, stopping me five times between here and Piazza San Marco. Living in this town must be a nuisance. I’ve been longing to visit Venice for more than twenty years, and now I’m just so disappointed.”
True - on Palm Sunday morning, Venice was “booked out” and Piazza San Marco really crowded. The quiet and healing time of Lent, always a most welcome break and balmy breeze after a couple of fast-paced Carnival weeks, was drawing to a close. Our guest felt trapped and discouraged by the noise and the crowds, brought on by the start of the “cruise ship season”.
I think there aren’t many hosts like Lina when it comes to explaining Venice. She can become totally absorbed in a topic, talking with guests for hours. What I hadn’t seen her do in decades!! was show guests around the neighborhood. But then, Lina was already working full-time at her hotel and restaurants. I only recall her showing the city to visitors once, friends from Tel Aviv in the late 1990s. And on Palm Sunday in 2016, she did just that, despite having turned 93 and all her difficulties walking and crossing bridges.
So, Lina said to our guest: “Come along, I’ll show you the real Venice. You’ll now see the city we really live in.” She opened the door and turned right when the guest stopped her: “This is not the direction to San Marco??” Lina just waved him to follow her, and I was very curious and came along as well.
Lina was walking very slowly along our fondamenta that you can see in the image above, always a familiar and comforting sight. We went past people drinking coffee and eating fragrant brioches in the cafes on this misty and warm morning in late March. Actually, we made very little progress as Lina stopped at every door and window, telling the story of each building, courtyard and secret garden that may hide inside.
Slowly, we were enveloped by a magical atmosphere and the sounds of water lapping against the fondamenta when a gondola was passing. We were blinded for a few moments by sun rays trying to make it through the mist. Finally, we arrived at Rio dei Greci and watched the water rippled by a vegetable boat delivering fresh greens to a restaurant next to the bridge Ponte dei Greci. These vegetables looked so lush and green, like they had been harvested this morning in the Lagoon.
After crossing the bridge, we were smelling the water and listening to the voices of blackbirds and merlins coming across from the courtyard of San Giorgio dei Greci, the Greek church of Venice.
Turning left, we were walking along Fondamenta di San Lorenzo when I noticed our guest drawing his breath the moment another sight came into view: It was a mighty wisteria just coming into bloom, growing on a terrace overlooking the water, so we could smell its fragrance across the canal. Yes, plants are much loved here, and they do play a major role as landmarks!
Lina said to her guest: “Stand on the top of the bridge and take in the view. This is the gift Venice gives to the turista frettoloso (hustling and stressed visitor).”
Standing on Ponte di San Lorenzo, a massive bridge in white Istrian stone built in the year 826 AD, our guest took in the view of San Giorgio dei Greci in the distance. To the left, he could see the wisteria-overgrown terrace on the canal and a boat anchored at its doorstep. To the right, our guest could see a window sill on which a purple-blooming lily and young wisteria were growing.
Behind our visitor, on the left, was the church and campo of San Lorenzo. Lina left him to watch the scenery for a few minutes, and then told the story of a miracle which had happened exactly here, on the bridge, in the year 1369, during a time when the Genoese fleet appeared in the Lagoon, almost conquering Venice.
And this is Lina’s story:
“On Domenica delle Palme (Palm Sunday), a priest was carrying the reliquary of la Santa Croce (Holy Cross) across this bridge, during a procession of the parishioners to the monastery of San Zaccaria. All of a sudden, the reliquary fell into the canal. In 1369, this wasn’t a fortified canal like it is today, surrounded by stone and brick-clad fondamenta, but a muddy garden area, where the nuns of the San Lorenzo and San Zaccaria monasteries were growing vegetables, rosemary, wine and fruit.”
“The parishioners were looking on in dismay, but the reliquary didn’t sink and was still floating on the water. The priest jumped and was able to retrieve it. In 1500, Giovanni Bellini recreated this scene in Il Miracolo della Santa Croce, you can see his painting in the Galleria dell’ Accademia”.
“Here we are in the oldest part of Venice”, Lina continued, “on the ancient island Ombriola consisting of two parts, or rather, heart-shaped twin islands, overgrown with rosemary when the nuns of the monasteries San Zaccaria and San Lorenzo first cultivated it in the year 360 AD. Ombriola became the first commercial center of Venice, where Byzantine cogs were anchored and Greek diplomats and merchants were living.”
“The family of Doge Partecipazio built the church of San Lorenzo in 825 AD, and Romana, another member of the Doge’s family, founded a monastery for suore benedettine in the year 853, on the former grounds of the San Zaccaria monastery.
Today, the monastery of San Lorenzo houses a Casa di Riposo next to the church: A chapel of the original church was built where the Casa di Riposo, is located today, and if we can belive Marco Polo’s Last Will, he and his family were buried in this chapel1. The island Ombriola represents the center of the Lagoon, it is located exactly between Fusina, where the Lagoon ends in the south-west, and Torcello, the ancient harbor island where the Lagoon ends in the north-east. While the Rialto area was populated by Eneti, Ombriola is the heart of Byzantine Venice.”
“The church was dedicated to the martyr San Lorenzo, doing charity work in Rome around the year 257 AD. San Lorenzo died aged 33 on 10 August, which is why La Notte di San Lorenzo, the night of the shooting stars, is called after him. We call these falling stars le lacrime di San Lorenzo, the tears of San Lorenzo.”
The spell was broken all of a sudden when two shoppers were approaching us with their bags. As our guest wouldn’t move, Lina waved to me and we left him in his own dreamy place on top of the bridge. This time, seeing Venice with the eyes of Lina, a very special Venetian grandmother.
In Part 2 of this neighborhood guide, up in a few weeks, we’ll tell you about a special connection between Marco Polo and his family, and the monastery of San Zaccaria.