Grave of Diaghilev

Carnival over with this being Ash Wednesday. The day was sunny and bright. I resolved to visit Murano, the island where they make the glass for which Venice is so well known.

On a whim, I got off the vaporetto at San Michele, the cemetery island. The main graveyard is thronged with headstones and flowers. On the other side, bodies have been entombed in what looks like a series of stone drawers stacked on top of one another. 

Over in one corner, you will find the Greco and Evangelisti sections. The Greco section is for those who died in the Greek and Russian Orthodox faiths. The Evangelisti are, broadly speaking, Protestants. 

I found the memorial for Russian ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev, who founded the Ballets Russes, which is hung with ballet shoes. After searching a little more, I found the graves of Igor and Vera Stravinsky, two stone slabs lying side by side, on which more ballet shoes and flowers were draped. For the rest, the deceased are largely forgotten, although I did find a memorial to a well know Brazilian racing driver. I never found the grave of Ezra Pound, who I assume was a Protestant. The Protestant graves were in far worse condition than those of the Orthodox church.  

As I was about to board the vaporetto, a boat arrived bearing a coffin for burial or cremation.

On to Murano where I visited the glass museum. Some exquisite pieces here including first samples of glass from the 12th and 13th centuries which was when people first rediscovered how to make transparent glass. The glass makers are continually evolving their skills and practice. They make artworks now. Some breathtaking hippopotami.

Then it felt like lunch time. I offered to take a photo of a lady with her grand daughter as she wanted one of them both with the Duomo in the background. I asked her if she knew a good restaurant. Joy of joys, she recommended the pizzeria just over the bridge for its fish. As I went in, I noticed a sign on the door saying the restaurant was certified by Celiac Italy. How could I resist ordering a gluten free pizza, although it did give me indigestion.

I'm glad I then went into the Duomo of Santa Maria and San Donato, because the floor is covered in an amazing Byzantine mosaic. Apparently the floor has been renovated, because of subsidence, but every mosaic has been replaced as it was first created. I don't recall seeing such an extensive Byzantine mosaic elsewhere. Perhaps St Mark's would qualify but I didn't visit this time.

I walked along the fondamente to the vaporetto station at Colonna, noting medieval colonnades on the way, but never discovered the glass making furnaces. I did on the way back home the following Monday. That will have to be another visit, in sh'Allah.

A glorious sunset this evening.