San Lazzaro 
THE ISLAND OF SAN LAZZARO 
By Alfred Morton Githens 
T HERE seems little chance now-a-days 
of finding near the greater Italian 
cities a place that is not already familiar 
through books and photographs. Turn 
away and explore the unknown outlying 
towns, and the chances are that we miss 
what we have come to Italy to see. Generally 
there islittle refinement 
and less originality, for 
each object that inter¬ 
ests us is crudely rem¬ 
iniscent of some well- 
known masterpiece of 
the great cities. Unless 
gifted with rare pa¬ 
tience and leisure to 
indulge it, we sadly 
return to the beaten 
paths and the broken 
English of the guides 
and beggars. Happy 
voyagers in the days of 
“le grand tour”! What 
surprising journeys 
into unknown cities 
befell Sterne and Gold¬ 
smith and the men of 
their time! What ad¬ 
ventures they brought 
back and tales worth 
telling! After all, Mur¬ 
ray and Baedeker 
rob us of more than 
they give in return. 
Tucked away near the end of Baedeker’s 
chapter on Venice is a paragraph mentioning 
the island of San Lazzaro. There is little 
or no description, and we had never before 
heard of this island-monastery. One Sep¬ 
tember afternoon, in the hope of a discovery, 
we set out from the Piazzetta. The place 
is near the Lido, an 
hour’s row, by gondola, 
below the city. Past 
San Georgio we went 
and across the Laguna 
Viva in the warm after¬ 
noon sunshine. A barca 
would pass us, or a 
pescadoro, its orange 
and scarlet sails filled 
with the summer wind. 
In the gorgeous weather 
one envied the steers¬ 
man or the man at the 
sweeps, and grew im¬ 
patient with forced in¬ 
activity. Such an op¬ 
portunity to try that 
most cunning of feats, 
rowing a gondola! Of 
course, a remonstrance 
from the gondolier was 
to have been expected; 
but we insisted and 
were presently in the 
bow, oar against the im¬ 
possible rowlock, toes 
THE INNER COURT 
