The earliest information on the island of San Clemente, the southern-most island in the Venetian lagoon, concerns a hospital set up to welcome pilgrims making their way to the Holy Land at the time of the Crusades. In 1160 the hospital was turned into a monastery. It was completely rebuilt in the mid 1400s as quarters for dignitaries visiting the Venetian Republic.

The island fell into disgrace for many decades in 1630, when the plague was raging in Venice, as it was believed that an ambassador of the Duke of Mantua, a guest in the monastery, was responsible for bringing the plague to Venice.
In the early 1800s the monastery was closed under the Napoleonic laws of suppression of religious Orders and its assets auctioned off. In 1855 the Austrian government had the monastery buildings demolished to make way for a large hospital for female psychiatric patients.

1100 - 1200 - ISOLE - rev. 0.1.6