Discover Sant’Erasmo

Sant'Erasmo lies in the northern lagoon, north-east of Venice and immediately west of the Lido's northern end, covering roughly four square kilometres of almost perfectly flat ground.

The soil is sandy and mildly saline, which is the whole agricultural story: it produces vegetables with a distinct character, and the artichoke in particular is tied to it.

The island is worked in long narrow fields divided by drainage ditches, with vines, orchards and open ground between. There is no high ground anywhere and few trees, so the sky dominates.

Its edges dissolve into barene -- the salt marshes that are the lagoon's actual natural habitat, cut by tidal channels and covered at high water.