Torcello

We visited Torcello yesterday and wandered around.  The vaporetto comes on the hour so we spent about two hours there.  We walked to Riva degli Schiavoni and caught the vaporetto from there to Torcello.  It was a slow trip via Lido, Jessolo and Burano.
It was foggy early in the morning but had cleared by the time we got to Torcello.

These Vigili del fuoco musn't have been going to a fire -they were in a queue behind stacks of gondole.

Leaving the vaporetto stop in Venice

It was interesting to see the flat marshes - hard to imagine that parts of Venice  was built on land which started out like this

The walk in to the centre of  Torcello

Torcello was the beginning of the Venetian Empire - there are only a few traces of the grandness of its opulent past

A 1600s building on a canal which is now a restaurant

It was very glary day and difficult to take photos

an unusual collection of statuary in a courtyard adjoining a building

In front of the cathedral there are remnants of Roman structures

These lizards were everywhere - they were an interesting colour.  I was reminded that we have squillions of lizards in Australia :) but still found these interesting

A rather unusual marble plaque

The Venetian lion

Remnant plaques and marble carvings

The Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta.  There are extensive beautiful mosaics in the cathedral which are in a Byzantine style like Ravenna. Photography is not permitted in the cathedral.

The Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta and the campanile. The Cathedral was constructed in 639.   The campanile is covered scaffolding for restoration

 Today it is hard to imagine the bustling, prosperous city of old.

Ponte di diavolo

View from the Ponte di diavolo

Taken from the vaporetto stop at Torcello

Case Romane Del Celio

Underneath the Basilica of Ss Giovanni e Paolo in Clivo di Scauro, Celio is a Roman house complex dating from the 5th century AD.
Case Romane
The buildings have been carefully restored and have some painted rooms which are in good condition.  I hadn't heard about this site until we saw Prof Mary Beard's series "Meet the Romans".  It is really worth a visit. We had the place to ourselves and wandered around for ages. When we come back to Rome in a few weeks we'll do a tour so that we can learn a bit more about the place.
Thank you Mary Beard!