Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta (Torcello)

Early Christian cathedral on the near-deserted lagoon island of Torcello, home to the oldest surviving mosaics of the Venetian lagoon from the 7th to 12th centuries.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta on the lagoon island of Torcello is one of the oldest and most important religious buildings in the Veneto. The first church was built in the 7th century, when Torcello was still a thriving city of tens of thousands — long before Venice rose to prominence. Inside, the earliest surviving mosaics of the lagoon cover the walls: a monumental Last Judgment fills the west wall, while the apse shows an enthroned Madonna, both dating to the 11th and 12th centuries. Today Torcello is nearly deserted, and this silence makes a visit particularly moving. The island is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Venice and its Lagoon.