As I read about Venice in guidebooks, Torcello intrigued me more than any other historic site. As a lover of all things abandoned and left to decay, this "abandoned" former Venice intrigued me. I imagined crumbling stone buildings, a windswept landscape, the occasional feral cat. Well, Torcello is not that place. Torcello is a oft-visited tourist attraction with a museum, a church, and a few homes and drink stands. Everyone gets off at the same dock with the vaporetto and walks down the same winding road along the canal to reach the center. There's definitely no thrill of discovery, and I think my hopes were dashed. I was most excited about seeing the famous Attila's Throne, now used more by families for group photos.
However, Torcello did offer one thrill. Its campanile towers above the landscape and costs only a few Euro to climb. It's all stairs here, not like the elevator for the San Marco campanile. As we neared the top, the bell began to ring and the tower began to shake, swaying from side to side with the tones of the bell. It was so loud that I had to put my fingers in my ear and retreat to a lower part of the staircase. We waited out the ringing of the bells and proceeded to the top. There is a narrow rim around the bells where visitors can look out onto the desolate landscape of Torcello, marshy and barren of population.
One of the oldest Byzantine churches, Santa Maria Assunta, is also located on the island. Its best feature are the dome frescoes, featuring the dark scenes of Hell and the Apocalypse in the crepuscular dimness. No photographs were allowed within the church, but so I bought postcards from the church store. My scrapbook now features much apocalyptic art from throughout Venice and Florence.
Getting to Torcello
You must plan your visit to Torcello well, because it is not easy to get there. The easiest way to come to Torcello is to take the LN (sometimes called the 12) vaporetto to Burano, and take the "T" line across to Torcello. Guidebooks mention a direct route, but we didn't see it advertised.