Italy, Venice - Torcello Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta

Photographer:Samuel Magal (samuel@) The original church is believed to have had a nave with one aisle on each side and a single apse on the eastern wall of the cathedral. It’s difficult to tell what the original church was like because very little of it survived the subsequent renovations. Much of the plan of the original church survives as its present form is very similar to the original but the only physical parts that survive are the central apse wall and part of the baptistery that survives as part of the façade of the current church. The first of two major renovations occurred in 864 under the direction of Bishop Adeodatus II.[1] In this renovation, the two aisle apses that appear today were built. Also, the synthronon that fills the central apse was created and the crypt was placed under it. After this renovation, the cathedral would have resembled the current cathedral more than the original church would have but it is not until after the second and final major r