The Cypress Ring of San Francesco del Deserto

Francis of Assisi is said to have landed on this four-hectare island in 1220, returning from the Fifth Crusade, and a local legend claims he planted his walking staff in the ground, where it grew into a pine tree that survived until 1701, when its dried trunk was carved into a statue of the saint. That original tree is gone, but the cypresses that now ring the island's perimeter, visible from the water as a dense green band around the convent walls, are old enough that every source describing them reaches for the word ancient without offering a planting date or measurement, so their exact age is unverified here. Six Franciscan friars still live on the island today, one of whom leads the only tours available, walking visitors past cloisters dating to the 15th century and gardens the friars still work themselves. There is no public vaporetto stop: reaching the island means taking the line to Burano and then a private boat or water taxi for the final short crossing, a genuine detour that keeps the place as quiet as its name suggests.