Are you in Venice for a few days but already tired of the crowd that swarms wildly in St. Mark’s Square and Rialto Bridge? Would you like to explore a fascinating place off the beaten path? Well, you should know that the Venetian lagoon is dotted with dozens of islands: some of them are big and very popular, others are smaller, scarcely populated or totally desolate. A boat trip to this archipelago, especially in the mild season, might open a world of unspoiled beauty. Here’s a short chronicle of my last boat trip to Sant’Erasmo, one of these mysterious, yet lively islands.
The water route twists and turns northeast through the sand banks signed by the bricole, wooden poles used by sailors to follow the course. We sailed from Fondamenta Nuove. We’ve just gone past Murano island and from the bow of the boat, in the lagoon’s full light, we can spot the islands of San Francesco del Deserto, Burano and Mazzorbo. We are going to Sant’Erasmo, the biggest island after Venice, also called “the garden of Serenissima”, because of its fields where a variety of vegetables, vineyards and fruit trees grow.
We dock at Sant’Erasmo Capannone while the sun is still high and the cicadas are loudly singing. Lazzaretto Nuovo island, mysterious and half hidden by the vegetation, is just in front of us. We decided to rent a bicycle and circumnavigate the island. Beyond the Torre Massimiliana, a fort built in 1848 and now a venue for cultural events, we came across the property of a beekeeper. He produces types of honey from the Limonium Vulgare flower, which grows on the fertile sand banks, and from the artichoke flower, which the island is famous for.
Following a path that meanders through vineyards and fruit trees we find some greenhouses, signs of strong agriculture. But this time we are not going to visit them, nor the Bacan beach, a tiny sand stripe on the Northeast coast. We’ll keep biking, instead, until the dock where we started, we are going to a wine tasting at the Orto di Venezia winery.
Twelve years ago, Michel Thoulouze, a french man passionate about wine and fond of the Venetian lagoon, bought a piece of Land in Sant’Erasmo. He realized the soil was fertile, and full of copper and sediments brought by the rivers from the Dolomiti mountains to the sea.
Therefore he got the idea of planting a vineyard and, having not experience, asked some French friends for advice. These people from Bourgogne, where the most precious wine comes from, initially thought the guy was crazy. But one of them, an agronomist, decided to visit and teach him how to fertilize the soil without destroying its delicate biological balance, in other words, without ploughing. 24 months later the soil was ready to grow the graft between two Italian grapes: the Malvasia istriana, typical from Friuli region, and the Vermentino, which needs salty air to mature. A cultivation with minimal environmental impact, no weedkillers or pesticides, because “the earth does the wine, not the man”.
Some of the bottles are aged under the lagoon water and after a year they come up soaked with weeds and small sea snails: these special ones are produced in a limited number and for a niche of curious valuators.
We are now sitting on the romantic terrace built by Michel on the lagoon, tasting the delicious wine around the black wood table. While the sky is changing its colors and the sun is slowly pouring down the cloud banks, we appreciate the peace of this place, far from the noisy Piazza San Marco and the crowded Rialto Bridge, reachable in an hour boat from the airport, so magically untouched that it just looks unreal.
The vaporetto (shuttle bus) to Sant’Erasmo island leaves from Fondamenta Nuove (line 13). For an even more special experience, rent a traditional wooden boat called a bragozzo, used for centuries by fishermen and merchants. Choose a water taxi for a more comfortable trip.
On the website Have a Glass in Venice, you can find different kinds of lagoon tours and a real Venetian who is able to give you some useful local tips.
[Written & Photographed by Stefania Gioia | Tiplr Ambassador| Italy]
