Isola San Francesco del Deserto, Venice

San Francesco del Deserto is a small lagoon island, home to a Franciscan friary among cypresses and pines. It covers about 4 hectares and lies between Sant'Erasmo and Burano. As local tradition has it, Francis of Assisi landed here in 1220 after returning from the East, then chose this secluded place for prayer and contemplation.

The island’s history is far less tranquil than its setting suggests: malaria drove the friars away for several decades in the fifteenth century, Napoleon’s troops stripped the church and convent in 1806, and Austrian forces later used the island to store gunpowder. In 1858, the Patriarchate of Venice enabled the Franciscans to return and re-establish their convent, which remains active. Today, the wooded cloisters and the friars’ guided visits preserve the island’s character as a place of quiet retreat.