Travel Guide Sant’ Erasmo

Sant'Erasmo is an atypical island in the lagoon landscape. There are several reasons for this: until the last century, it was a simple, uninhabited strip of land and sand. For centuries, its dunes (like those on the Lido) protected it from the onslaught of the Adriatic. It then took on an almost exclusive role as the "vegetable garden of the lagoon", gradually specializing in the cultivation of artichokes, white asparagus and grapes, from which the locals make a distinctive, brackish-tasting wine. The island's most important fortification is Forte Sant'Erasmo, part of a defensive line commissioned by the Napoleonic government after 1797, when the Repubblica Serenissima fell. This construction was continued by the next invaders, the Austrians. In 1832, they added the Torre Massimiliana, erected at the south-eastern end of the island. Named after Maximilian of Habsburg, who retreated there during an insurrection. After a long period of neglect, this military structure has been fully restored and is once again the island's main monument. Sant'Erasmo is around 4 km long and just under 600 m wide, and is home to around 700 inhabitants, all of whom earn their living mainly from farming. The island is easily accessible on foot, and can be circumnavigated in 3 hours.