Torcello was one of the first settlements in the lagoon, inhabited by people from the Roman town of Altino on the mainland, already in the late 500s or early 600s. In the early Middle Ages, Torcella was larger then Venice.
Translation of the parts related to Venice of the “De Administrando Imperio” (c.950) by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus.
List of all churches on the islands of Burano, Torcello, Mazzorbo — consecrated, deconsecrated and demolished.
The Venetian Lagoon is much more than just a watery area around the city of Venice. It is an integral part of Venice, its history and its origin.
This is an interactive map of most of the islands in the Venetian lagoon. Many islands are abandoned, or privately owned and inaccessible
Venice is divided into six sestiere whose origin is as old as the city of Venice itself. As far as we know, they have always been there.
Venice was an independent state for almost a millennium, but it might note have been. It all hinged on a single battle fought in the Venetian lagoon in 810.
Recently discovered frescoes in the church of Torcello, former seat of the bishop, attest the close connections early Venice had to the Caroligian empire.