THE ISLAND OF SAN LAZZARO DEGLI ARMENI WHERE THE ROSES ARE RED…AND SWEET
The Venice Times, Italy
Feb 11 2014
Venice can be overwhelming – art, tours, people, noise. So where
can you take a break from the commotion and enjoy the silence of the
Lagoon? A unique experience and highly recommended by many on our staff
is a voyage to San Lazzaro, a small island off the Lido on the lagoon
side that houses campanile and gardens of the Armenian monastery.
When the Turks captured Modon in southern Greece, Peter of Manug,
called Mekhitar and his fellow Armenian monks fled to Venice. In 1717
the Venetian Republic granted to them the island of San Lazzaro. There
the monks build monastery that became a center for Armenian studies
and led to a revival of Armenian consciousness. Today the island is
still the home for thirty or so monks and the library of the monastery
has more than 150,000 unique books and 4000 rare manuscripts. Visitors
can only tour the monastery with a guided tour provided once per day
at 3:30 in the afternoon.
The gardens of the islands are colonized with roses. So what do you
do when you have an abundance of roses on a small island? You make a
jam from rose petals. The “varnatush”, a rose jam, is with Armenian
origin and in Italy is produced exclusively on the Island of San
Lazzaro degli Armeni by the Mechitaristi monks. It’s a must buy while
visiting the monastery. Earlier in May and June is the right time
to visit the Convent, to take a look at the green courtyard, and to
take a walk in the roseto, the rose garden situated in the southern
part of the island. And this is also the time of the year when the
monks prepare their famous rose jam: by carefully collecting the rose
petals con la brina mattutina – still covered with morning dew.
You can reach San Lazzaro Island by taking vaporetto nr.20, it leaves
from the San Zaccaria station. It is a great half a day trip, away
from the chaos of the Venetian streets crowded with tourist.
You can also read more about the art of making
rose jam at: Le Spezie della Serenissima:
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress