Venice can be overwhelming – art, tours, people, noise. So where can you take a break from the commotion and enjoy the silence of the Lagoon? A unique experience and highly recommended by many on our staff is a voyage to San Lazzaro, a small island off the Lido on the lagoon side that houses campanile and gardens of the Armenian monastery.
When the Turks captured Modon in southern Greece, Peter of Manug, called Mekhitar and his fellow Armenian monks fled to Venice. In 1717 the Venetian Republic granted to them the island of San Lazzaro. There the monks build monastery that became a center for Armenian studies and led to a revival of Armenian consciousness. Today the island is still the home for thirty or so monks and the library of the monastery has more than 150,000 unique books and 4000 rare manuscripts. Visitors can only tour the monastery with a guided tour provided once per day at 3:30 in the afternoon.
San Lazzaro Island monastery
The gardens of the islands are colonized with roses. So what do you do when you have an abundance of roses on a small island? You make a jam from rose petals. The “varnatush”, a rose jam, is with Armenian origin and in Italy is produced exclusively on the Island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni by the Mechitaristi monks. It’s a must buy while visiting the monastery. Earlier in May and June is the right time to visit the Convent, to take a look at the green courtyard, and to take a walk in theroseto, the rose garden situated in the southern part of the island. And this is also the time of the year when the monks prepare their famous rose jam: by carefully collecting the rose petals con la brina mattutina – still covered with morning dew.
You can reach San Lazzaro Island by taking vaporetto nr.20, it leaves from the San Zaccaria station. It is a great half a day trip, away from the chaos of the Venetian streets crowded with tourist.
You can also read more about the art of making rose jam at: Le Spezie della Serenissima
