The city of Venice revived a long-dormant tradition of constructing a temporary bridge to San Michele island cemetery to allow people to pay their respects to the dead on All Souls Day. Source: Crux.
San Michele Island is the final resting place of American poet Ezra Pound, Russian composer Igor Stravinsky and many Venetians known only to their loved ones.
In its original form, the crossing was made out of Venetian “peata” boats lashed together, topped with walking planks and anchored to the lagoon bed. The practice was stopped in the 1950s, probably as more regular public water buses made the island easier to reach.
After an absence of some 70 years, the 400-metre bridge was revived in 2019 with modular pontoon construction, but the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted plans to make it an annual fixture — until this year.
“We have proposed it once more so we can reconnect history with living people,’’ Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said last week. “It’s a concrete journey. It’s not fake, not philosophical. By foot, over the water, a beautiful route that make you understand a lot of things about Venice.”
The lagoon city of Venice is patched together by hundreds of foot bridges. But the city has historically built temporary bridges on just two other occasions, which endure: across the Giudecca Canal for the annual Feast of the Redentore (Redeemer) in late July, and across the Grand Canal for the November 21 Feast of the Madonna della Salute.
The floating walkway to San Michele island near Murano is the longest of the three, traversing a relatively shallow area of the lagoon from the Fondamente Nove. The temporary bridge arches upward to allow water taxis, buses and ambulances and other boat traffic to pass by. Its modern construction allows it to easily withstand high tides of over 90 centimetres, officials said.
The cemetery was established in 1807, after Napoleon decreed that burial be moved away from the city. It took its name from the island’s 15th-century church. It was later expanded when a canal between a neighbouring island was filled in.
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Venice revives a quarter-mile floating bridge to island cemetery for All Souls’ Day mourners (AP via Crux)
