Death of A Queen...Leto Severis

 In 1490 Caterina went for a while to Venice, but the Council of Ten obliged her to return to Asolo. Now she cared only for the salvation of her soul, and did not look after her person. Her beautiful, long blond hair was simply wound up on her head. The people who knew her when she was young, could not believe that this heavy woman was the Caterina Cornaro they used to know. She awaited her death stoically; perhaps, she even looked forward to it. Worldly things offered her nothing any more. No joy remained in her life.

Around 1502, Caterina was allowed to go to Venice and live with her brother Georgio Cornaro in his luxurious palace in the parish of San Cassiano. The Council of Ten realised that she held no dangers for them at all. Caterina retired from public life and very rarely appeared in the noble palaces. She walked round Venice and crossed the bridges over the canals with an expressionless face, to visit different churches and pray, especially in the church of the Holy Apostles. She was allowed to circulate freely; the throne of Cyprus was for her an old and faded image. 

One day, at the beginning of July 1510, she felt strong pains in her stomach and on the 9th of July her condition became worse. On the 10th of July, while the great clock of Saint Mark was ringing four in the morning, Caterina expired with terrible pains. She was fifty-six years old. The sad news went from mouth to mouth, "The Queen of Cyprus is dead."

Venice was always very generous at the great or tragic moments in its adopted daughter's life and was always proud that a daughter of the Republic wore the royal crown of the Lusignans. The coffin was placed in the church of San Cassiano. Caterina's body, in accordance with her wishes, was dressed in the habit of the Franciscan nuns. From San Cassiano, a magnificent procession was formed to escort the coffin to the church of the Holy Apostles, where the family tomb of the Cornaros was situated. 

At the head of the procession, were priests, followed by the Doge's delegation, Caterina's close relatives and the nobles of Venice, all dressed in heavy mourning with the sadness painted on their faces. When the funeral began, the sky was all blue, but soon dark clouds gathered and a gloomy shadow hid the heavens. Suddenly, a storm broke out, a rare thing for that season in Venice. It rained thick hail, the wind tore the flags and the deafening sound of the thunder and the violent lightning rent the sky. 

It was a curious coincidence, this storm, coming from the Queen of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia, dressed in a nun's thick habit who was going to her final home. 

Andrea Novagiero bid farewell to the dead queen and the storm abated, the sky became completely blue and the church was deserted. Caterina Cornaro, the last Queen of Cyprus, passed into history and began her journey to eternity. 

At the end of the 16th Century, the tomb of Caterina Cornaro was transferred to the church of San Salvatore (The Saviour) where her tomb can still be visited. On a white marble slab is incised the following inscription: The mortal remains of Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia.