The façade upper part of the Basilica di S. Maria Assunta in Torcello.
The whole of S. Maria Assunta and S. Fosca in Torcello.
Dètail of the Last Judgement. The damned.
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The façade upper part of the Basilica di S. Maria Assunta in Torcello.
The whole of S. Maria Assunta and S. Fosca in Torcello.
Dètail of the Last Judgement. The damned.
As an inscription on the apse tells us, the church of Santa Maria Assunta on Torcello was founded in 639 during the rule of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, a year after the island was granted the status of a bishop’s seat. The structure that now contains the basilica dates back to the 9th-11th Centuries and is one of the oldest buildings in the lagoon area.
The three nave interior is in a robust style, a key factor in the church’s survival down the centuries. The impressive marble columns and mosaic floor date back to the 11th Century. The counter-façade contains a marvellous mosaic portraying a Universal Judgement, believed to be the work of the Venetian-Byzantine school of the 12th-13th Centuries, similar to the mosaics of the same period in St. Mark’s Basilica.
The chapel to the right of the main altar is decorated with a mosaic believed to be the oldest work of art in Venice (probably from the 8th Century).
400 - 1000 - Is. TORCELLO - rev. 0.1.7