San Lazzaro Monastery

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San Lazzaro degli Armeni - Venice lagoon

ABOVE: Entrance to the monastery of San Lazzaro.

Visiting the monastery

San Lazzaro degli ArmeniThe monks of the St. Lazzaro monastery have welcomed visitors for more than two centuries. In 1816, Lord Byron visited the island twice a week for six months, studying Armenian and envying the monks' comfortable academic lifestyle. A plaque quotes Byron as saying, "The visitor will be convinced that there are other and better things even in this life."

If you'd like to see those better things for yourself, you can take a daily guided sightseeing tour. The multilingual tour lasts about 75 minutes and ends in a gift shop where you can load up on Armenian religious literature, postcards, and prints.

How to reach the island

The No. 20 vaporetto leaves San Zaccaria, near the Piazza San Marco, for the islands of San Servolo and San Lazzaro. (Check the ACTV site for the current timetable.) From the San Lazzaro boat pier, walk toward the entrance to buy a ticket and wait for the tour to begin.

After finishing the tour in the gift shop, you can exit the monastery buildings and enjoy the gardens between the entrance and the boat pier (shown below).

San Lazzaro - vaporetto pier

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