Beyond the Biennale: Venice’s ‘secret’ Sant’Elena island

While most of La Serenissima will be heaving with visitors during the art fair, which starts this week, this tiny island at the city’s eastern tip is a world apart

Venice welcomes back its prestigious Biennale, the art world’s oldest and biggest gathering, from 23 April, after a three-year absence. From that day, vaporetto no 1 water bus, which chugs up the Grand Canal and past Piazza San Marco, will be packed with art lovers, who will stream off at the Giardini boat stop for the Giardini della Biennale, where 30 international pavilions present the latest cutting-edge creations.

But one stop further, just before the vaporetto steams off across the lagoon to the Lido, is little-known Sant’Elena, a tiny island, separated just by a canal from the rest of the Castello district. Overlooked by most people, it’s an oasis of peace at a time when weekend city centre visitor numbers to the are topping 130,000, significantly more than before the pandemic.