TORCELLO  , an

island of Venetia, Italy, in the lagoons about 6 m. to the N.W. of Venice, belonging to the commune of Burano . It was a flourishing city in the early middle ages, but now has only a few houses and two interesting churches . The former cathedral of S . Maria was founded in the 7th century . The present building, a basilica with columns, dates from 864; the nave was restored in Ioo8, in which year the now ruined octagonal baptistery was built . It contains large mosaics of the 12th century, strongly under Byzantine influence; those on the west wall represent the Resurrection and Last Judgment . The seats for the priests are arranged round the semicircular apse, rising in steps with the bishop's throne in the centre—an arrangement unique in Italy . Close by is S . Fosca, a church of the 12th century, octagonal outside, with colonnades on five sides and a rectangular interior intended for a dome which was never executed, beyond which is a three-apsed choir . In the local museum are four Mycenaean vases, one found in the island and another on the adjacent island of Mazzorbo, proving direct intercourse with the Aegean Sea in prehistoric times . See R . M .

Dawkins, in Journal of Hellenic Studies (1904), xxiv . 125 .