Museo provinciale di Torcello (palazzo del Consiglio)

Torcello is an island at the northern end of the Venetian Lagoon, in north-eastern Italy. It was first settled in 452 CE and has been referred to as the parent island from which Venice was populated. It was a town with a cathedral and bishops before St Mark's Basilica was built.
After the downfall of the Western Roman Empire, Torcello was one of the first lagoon islands to be successively populated by those Veneti who fled the terra ferma (mainland) to take shelter from the recurring barbarian invasions.
Torcello rapidly grew in importance as a political and trading centre: in the 10th century it had a population often estimated at 10,000–35,000 people.
Thanks to the lagoon’s salt marshes, the salines became Torcello’s economic backbone.
The Black Death devastated the Venice Republic in 1348 and again between 1575 and 1577. In three years, the plague killed some 50,000 people. In 1630, the Italian plague of 1629–31 killed a third of Venice's 150,000 citizens. A further serious issue for Torcello specifically was that the swamp area of the lagoon around the island increased by the 14th century, partly because of the lowering of the land level. Navigation in the laguna morta (dead lagoon) was impossible before long and traders ceased calling at the island. The growing swamps also seriously aggravated malaria.
As a result, by the late 14th century, a substantial number of people left the island for Murano, Burano or Venice. In 1689, the bishopric transferred to Murano, and by 1797, the population had dropped to about 300. It now has a full-time population of just 10 people, including the parish priest.Read more