The Last Sacrifice: The Potential of a Revived Venetian World

Abstract

Introduction The sun is beginning to sink over Torcello as I navigate my way back toward Burano. It is Sunday, and the weekend is mercifully coming to an end. I round the south corner of Isola Santa Cristina and pull up to a nesting barena (saltmarsh mudflat) that is home to a family of small white seagulls, known in dialect as coc ai. About three weeks ago, I met two tiny nestlings there while picking up trash that floats in from the mainland and have gone to observe quietly and unobtrusively twice a week, careful not to stay too long or disturb their habitat. Italy had a four-day holiday this week, and an unprecedented number of leisure boats speeding their way into the north. I was surprised and felt uneasy with the endless drone of motors and uninformed traffic in this protected and delicate environment. With a deep knowledge of, and respect for, the city of Venice, its people and environment, Allison Zurfluh curates bespoke educative itineraries into Venice’s northern lagoon. She has worked for twenty years as a translator in Classical Music and Olympic Sport; is the chief editor of DeluxePad, the luxury lifestyle magazine for private aircraft, and has contributed to international publications such as Cond e Nast Traveller UK, Swiss Universe in-flight Magazine, InTime Venice & Veneto, Swiss Style, and Legendary Stein in Salzburg. Zurfluh is also the author of The Veremonda Resurrection which traces the revival of a seventeenthcentury Venetian opera (Gli Ori, 2016), and of a children’s book on Venice Lia Leaves the Library (Lineadacqua Edizioni, 2017). allisonzurfluh@gmail.com Lu xu ry D O I: 10 .1 08 0/ 20 51 18 17 .2 02 0. 18 64 59 9