Cimitero di San Michele, Venice

Cimitero di San Michele is an island cemetery set in the lagoon between Venice and Murano. It has served as Venice’s principal burial ground since 1807, when Napoleon’s administration moved burials away from the built-up city for hygiene reasons. The cemetery brings together Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox burial areas; Venice’s Jewish cemetery is on Lido instead.

In the Orthodox enclosure, Greeks and Russians form the greater part of those buried there, and the names of Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Diaghilev give this section an especially striking cultural connection. The Protestant area is enclosed by a brick wall and entered through an iron gate connecting it with the Catholic grounds; about 600 burials have taken place there over 150 years. Space is limited, so graves are leased for 12 years, after which remains from communal plots are moved to an ossuary.

The island complex expanded after David Chipperfield won a 1998 design competition; his courtyards, ossuary, and service building were completed in 2017. Look for the historic cemetery’s Hemicycle 22: its 38 chapels include private family chapels associated with Venetian noble families.