In the 1980s the architect Giancarlo De Carlo built a brightly coloured residential neighbourhood to help to repopulate Mazzorbo.

[5] However, the work of many historians, including Roberto Cessi, has shown that Mazzorbo was never mentioned in the ancient and medieval chronicles.

It has been suggested that Filiasi’s interpretation came in the context of the patriotic and aggrandising panegyric typical of 19th century Venice and anti-Austrian rhetoric during the Austrian occupation.

[8] A Roman stone inscription which was discovered in the 19th century, the Epigrafe Torcellana (Torcello Epigraph), commemorates a donation to the town of Altinum by Tiberius Claudius Nero who, during his consulate (13-14 BCE) built temples, porticoes and gardens.

[7] It is often held that the settlements in Mazzorbo and the other islands in the northern part of the Lagoon of Venice were built by refugees from the nearby coastal town of Altinum either when it was destroyed by Attila of the Huns in 452 or from the inland areas of the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions when they were conquered by the Lombards in 569-615.

[7][9] However, in 1881, archaeologists discovered Mycenaean pottery on the island, which shows that there was already commercial activity in 1600–1100 BCE.

"[12] Mazzorbo and the other islands in the area declined with the urbanisation of Rivoalto, which developed into the city of Venice and became the dominant centre of the lagoon.

In addition, there was environmental degradation caused by floods which eroded the banks of the islands and various buildings, the expansion of the surrounding marshes and problems with malaria.

The above mentioned names (Maioribus, Maiorbo and Maiurbo) referred to a settlement which comprised all of the three-island group (prior to the splitting of the S. Caterina island in 1928).

Through this connection with the nobility, the churches and monasteries of Mazzorbo were endowed with artworks by painters and other artists who were renown at the time.

Tradition notes its beauty and the marble columns of its portico and claims that St. Francis and St. Antony preached here.

[14][15] There was a gilded silver altarpiece which was probably kept in the main altar and then, as noted in a 1681 pastoral visit by the bishop of Torcello, was put at the bottom of a large crucifix in front of the main chapel which shared the nave of the presbytery with an iconostasis with the twelve apostles.

It was probably the type of 12th century Venetian goldsmith work inspired by Byzantine iconographic elements.

It was made of gilded silver tiles nailed to wooden panels with sacred images which represented the Madonna, the Saints and Christ the Saviour.

In 1736, Ferrazzi, a parish priest, complained about having to resort to act as a chaplain for the St. Matthew nuns to get some money because donations to the church were not enough to get by despite getting an annual income from two secular confraternities.

Flaminio Corner wrote that it was dissolved in the 17th century because it was no longer able to sustain itself and was merged with the San Pietro parish church.

A document in the Mazzorbo parish archive it is noted that the materials from its demolition fetched 203 liras.

[13] In 1218 the bishop of Torcello donated a very old church dedicated to St Mathew to three Benedictine nuns on the island of Costanziaco.

The nuns were moved to Mazzorbo, on the Santa Caterina island, opposite the San Pietro church, on the other side of the canal.

In 1341 the nuns asked to be put under the jurisdiction of the abbot of Piacenza due to disagreements with their superior.

[21] In the convent’s church there were four panels by Matteo Ingoli: “St Helen kneeling with the cross with four putti in the air”, “The visit of St. Elizabeth”, "St. Jerome, St. Charles and a blessed abbess” and "St. Margaret and her ascent.” Above the main altar there was a panel with various saints, a nun and the map of the monastery attributed by Boschini, an art critic, to the Vivarini schools.

[20] Bernardino Scardeonio’s History of Paduan Antiquity tells that Margherita, a Padua noblewoman, withdrew to Mazzorbo with three noble maidens and founded this monastery.

/ PUTEUS ACQUAR VIVENTIUMQUAE / FLUUNT IMPETU DE LIBANO / MDLXXXVIII DIE X DECEM”[23][24] This the only surviving church in Mazzorbo.

[26] The church has a unique aisle with a ceiling which resembles the hull of a ship dating to the 15th century.

The most important are the “Mystical wedding of Saint Katherine” by Matteo Ponzone and one by Giuseppe Porta.

[25][26] Above the entrance door there is a sculptured marble lunette with the “Mystical wedding of Saint Katherine and two Donors.” Christ is sitting on a throne holding an open book which reads “EGO SUM LUS MUNDI” in his left hand.

[25] Mazzorbo today is a sparsely populated island devoted mainly to agriculture with vegetable growing, vineyards and orchards.

[29] Giancarlo De Carlo was an architect who belonged to a new generation of architects who wanted to develop a new type of architecture, one which was better suited to local social and environmental conditions and where man "is not reduced to an abstract figure".