CONVENTO SAN FRANCESCO DEL DESERTO
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Monastery on the lonely islet of San Francesco del Deserto.
Surrounded by several rows of cypress trees, the history of this solitary islet is closely linked to that of St. Francis of Assisi. Returning from the East on a Venetian ship in 1220, the famous religious sought a quiet island where he could retire and pray. He reached this islet, owned by the Venetian nobleman Jacopo Michiel, where he was welcomed, it is said, "by the singing of the birds". The sources tell us that five years later, a first small church had already been built, and that in 1233, Jacopo Michiel donated the island to the Franciscans who built a convent there. Chased away by malaria, in 1453 Pope Pius II reinstated the Franciscan Friars Minor, who restored the church and the convent and built a Renaissance cloister. Forty years later, it was the turn of the Friars Minor to take up residence here. They lived on the island until 1806, when Napoleon decided to ban the minor orders. The friars then left for the safety of the San Bonaventura convent in Venice. Today, the old church and the two cloisters still serve as a refuge for a dozen Franciscan monks who live isolated in this territory where time seems to have stood still. If you wish to venture there, you will always find a volunteer friar to act as your guide. There is no vaporetto to get there, but the company Laguna Fla Group can take you there.
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