Motta di San Lorenzo

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Motta di San Lorenzo
Waters Venice lagoon
Geographical location 45 ° 30 '11.7 "  N , 12 ° 27' 41.6"  E Coordinates: 45 ° 30 '11.7 "  N , 12 ° 27' 41.6"  E
Motta di San Lorenzo (Venice Lagoon)
Motta di San Lorenzo
surface 0.432 4  ha
Residents uninhabited

The Motta di San Lorenzo , often called Isola di S. Lorenzo di Ammiana in literature , is a small island in the northern lagoon of Venice . It has an area of ​​4,324 m² or a little more than 0.43 hectares and is located opposite Santa Cristina , not far from the similarly large island Motta dei Cunicci north of Torcello . Motta could be translated as hill or elevation. It is not far from the Canale di S. Felice. Its settlement probably goes back to the 1st or 2nd century, from 1185 to 1439 there was a monastery. The island has been uninhabited since then.

history

From an archaeological point of view - several excavation campaigns took place between 1968 and 1988 - the island of S. Lorenzo di Castrazio or di Ammiana is the most important site in the north of the lagoon. It is located between the Palude della Centrega , the Palude del Fondazzo and the del Tralo and the Remains of the Isola S. Cristina . This area, which protrudes only slightly above sea level, existed from the 1st to the 17th century, which is an exception in the lagoon. Of the total area up to around 2000 by 1000 m, only an area of ​​100 by 50 m protrudes out of the water.

Archaeological finds make it possible to distinguish between four phases of settlement, plus individual Etruscan finds. In the first centuries there are numerous artefacts of Roman origin, with the island gradually being abandoned in a second phase in the 4th to 6th centuries. In the 7th and 8th centuries, defensive structures - such as the Ammiana "castrum" appearing in the sources - can be identified, but there are also traces of soil development and commercial activity. The island was abandoned by its inhabitants in the 11th and 12th centuries. However, in 1185 it was given into the hands of Benedictine nuns who lived there until 1439. After that it was only used for fishing and horticultural needs. It was finally abandoned in the 18th century. Formerly owned by Padri Mechitaristi Armeni , the island is now owned by Swarovski.

It is certain that the island, together with Santa Cristina, San Andrea and San Felice, was part of the late antique-early medieval city of Ammiana . The floods of 1966 destroyed many of the remains visible on the surface of the water. The Motta di San Lorenzo is the last remnant of the island of Caltrazio and was only named after the church of San Lorenzo much later.

Archaeological investigations in the 1980s uncovered traces of a Roman villa from the 3rd century, as well as a Byzantine fortification, which until then was only known from sources. The square complex consisted of two towers that were connected by a wall over sixty meters long. Emperor Constantine VII (913–959) called it kastron . However, the dating seems to be uncertain after excavations twenty years later revealed new evidence. Burial remains can be found from the 6th century. A building from the 1st to 2nd centuries fell victim to a fire in the 2nd half of the 3rd century; its successor was of considerably more modest dimensions and furnishings. There was also a coin from Emperor Aurelian , then copper coins from the early 4th century, including one from Maxentius from the period between 307 and 310, as well as four copper coins from the time of Constantine, which belong to the years 330 to 335. On today's island alone there were two large structural structures, three towers and a castellum . The Pellaria tower , now northwest of the island, apparently dates back to the activities of the Hungarians towards the end of the 9th century who tried to penetrate the lagoon with boats.

For the late 6th century, when the Lombards had conquered large parts of northern Italy, traces of a growing population were found, although the rise in the water level made settlement more difficult. In the Byzantine period there was a military reorganization and a castellum was built, in which the church of S. Lorenzo was included. A fortified bridge connected the Castellum with the most densely populated part of the island, which was in the north. The island soon received the name San Lorenzo di Castrazio, a name that lasted into the 20th century - an exception in the lagoon. According to a document dated January 1185, the chapels of S. Marco, SS. Apostoli and S. Angelo, located in the Horti di Ammiana, and the Cenobio di S. Andrea in Ammianella, depended on the church. A document only eleven years younger shows the rapid decline, as the mills mentioned in 1185 were already ruins.

In 1185 a monastery for Benedictine nuns was built in the north-west of the island, although a chapel is already accessible earlier. Only the remains of the foundations of the monastery of San Lorenzo were found. The establishment of several monasteries around 1200 is believed to be an attempt to curb the depopulation of the northern lagoon. The Motta di San Lorenzo was probably also uninhabited before the monastery was built. Such attempts at resuscitation can also be found on other islands. In addition, the orders found enough space and prepared soil structures to ensure a life there. Gardens were certainly created and farm buildings were built next to the actual monastery. In 1439 the nuns left the islet, as evidenced by a document dated October 6th of that year, with which they determined admission to the monastery of S. Maria degli Angeli di Murano. The monastery, which took over the nuns' archive, was again closed in 1810 under Napoleon. The archival materials went to the Public Administration Archives in San Provolo. It was not until 1822 that they came to the later State Archives .

Incidentally, the excavations revealed that the island had shrunk considerably between the excavations in 1985 and those in 2007, a process that has apparently been going on for a long time.

literature

  • Ernesto Canal : Archeologia della laguna di Venezia , Venice 2015, pp. 366-423.
  • Diego Calaon, Cecilia Moine, Margherita Ferri: Non in Terra ne in Acqua. La Laguna nord attraverso l'archeologia di un'isola , exhibition catalog, Venice 2010. ( academia.edu )
  • Lidia Fersuoch, Ernesto Canal, Sally Spector, Giovanni Zambon: Indagini archeologiche a San Lorenzo di Ammiana (Venezia) , in: Archeologia Veneta 12 (1989) 71-96.
  • Fulvio Baudo: Stato degli studi, linee di ricerca e prospettive future per l'archeologia dell'edilizia religiosa altomedievale nella laguna di Venezia , Diss., Venice 2005.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Venice Islands ( memento of March 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), archive.org, March 24, 2009.
  2. ^ Ernesto Canal : Archeologia della laguna di Venezia , Venice 2015, p. 366.
  3. ^ Ernesto Canal: Archeologia della laguna di Venezia , Venice 2015, p. 368.
  4. ^ Ernesto Canal: Archeologia della laguna di Venezia , Venice 2015, p. 368.
  5. ↑ Archeologia medievale 34 (2007) p. 195.