The first island we pass is San Michele, with its recognisable high leafy tress which stick out above the encircling walls; it is also known as the Isola dei morti – Island of the dead – as this is in fact the cemetery of Venice. Originally a monastery built in the 13th century, which was famous for its great library and scholars, San Michele only became Venice’s cemetery with the arrival of Napoleon, who in 1804 established a well-known decree which spread across Europe: that the deceased should be buried outside the confines of the city; until then, in fact, Venetians were always buried in the vicinity of their parish church, which was of course extremely dangerous and unhygienic. Among the great many figures who are buried on san Michele are the poets Josif Brodsky and Ezra Pound and the russian composer Igor Stravinsky.
