Venice islands: Santa Cristina

In ancient times, the island of Santa Cristina was part of a complex of islands that extended towards Torcello. In the VII century, a church and a monastery were built by the Falier family. The church was created for the Benedictine nuns and was dedicated to St.Mark, but when the body of St.Christine was brought from Constantinople in 1325, the name of the island was changed to its present one.

The Benedictine nuns stayed on the island until 1340, when they retired to Murano, taking the remains of the Saint with them. The nuns were ordered to return to the island, where they remained until 1452 when the last nun, Filippa Condulmer, also received permission to transfer to Torcello. (The body of the Saint was taken to Torcello and then in the Church of St. Francis of the Vineyard in Venice).

The island was left abandoned until about thirty years ago, when a private citizen reclaimed it building a large embankment to protect the cultivated fields, a fishing valley and a garden, and on the foundations of a completely destroyed building he built a large house.

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