Cattedrale Di Santa Maria Assunta

Lonely Planet review

The island's ancient Veneto-Byzantine cathedral, Venice's first, was founded in the 7th century. What you see today dates from the first expansion of the church in 824 and rebuilding in 1008, making it about the oldest Venetian monument to have remained relatively untampered with.

The three apses (the central one dates back to the original 7th-century structure) are Romanesque in inspiration and underline its intermarriage of building styles. A jewel of simple, early-medieval architecture, the interior is still more fascinating for its magnificent Byzantine mosaics.

On the western wall of the cathedral is a vast mosaic depicting the Last Judgment. Hell (lower right side) doesn't look any fun at all. Such images inspired sheer terror in the average resident of Torcello back in the 12th and 13th centuries, when the mosaics were put together.

The greatest treasure is the mosaic of the Madonna col Bambino in the half-dome of the central apse. Starkly set on a pure gold background, the figure is one of the most stunning works of Byzantine art in Italy.

Climb the bell tower for fine lagoon views (the tower closes half an hour before the church does from March to October).