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Castello |
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Cristo Re alla Celestia
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A modern church in Venice! History The original church building dates from 1459. Along with its convent it was closed by Napoleon in the early 19th Century, but re-established by the Franciscan Nuns of Christ in 1878. In 1950 work began on a new larger church, designed by the engineer G. Favaretto Fisca and the architect G. Lirussi. The building was consecrated in 1952 and at present houses the Institute of the Franciscan Nuns of Christ the King, founded by Princess Benedetta Savoia Carignano and Angela Canal, a noblewoman from Venice. Interior I've never managed to visit, or indeed find, this church but it has a nave and two aisles and a coffered ceiling, we're told. There is a gallery connecting the church to the convent, and a small chapel to the right of the entrance. A visit (8.2008) Brigitte Eckert, a fellow fan of Venetian churches, and kind provider of many photos to this site, spoke to a passing nun and managed to get invited in. She writes... She asked me to come in because this was one of the rare times (as she told me) when the church door is open. There were some very slim very pale nuns dressed in white, kneeling in prayer and moving noiselessly and kind of ghostly about so there was no way to take pictures inside. But it is like you describe it: a 2-storey high nave and 2 aisles with the 2 storeys separated. There are 6 round vaults on each side of the nave in the ground floor and 12 on the second floor (looks like the first 2 storeys in the Fondacho dei Tedeschi, the post office at the Rialto). I suppose the second floors of the aisles are to have the nuns separated and invisible. If you look at the windows from outside there is the suggestion they are high, but inside they're separated between the 2 storeys and simply rectangular in the ground floor (the second floor windows you can't see from inside). The ceiling is plainly coffered in white and golden little squares, the floor is white Istrian stone very brightly polished with a few black transverse inlay lines. There is space for 11 rows of pews. I didn't look into the (very very!) small chapel right of the entrance, would have been kind of indiscreetness. It's very typical post-war church architecture, functional, humble. The only decorations are an embroidered cloth of a cross in the apse, colourful and in a modern kind of Byzantine impression, and small bronze Way of the Cross sculptures at the walls of the aisles, also typical 50s style. Opening times Vaporetto San Zaccaria |
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History Originally built in 1052 by the Boncigli family for the use of new immigrants. From 1470 the Council of Ten allowed the church to be used by Venice's large Greek Orthodox community, considered heretics at the time and so only allowed the use of this small and non-central church, until they moved to San Giorgio in 1543. The present church dates from a rebuilding of 1749-54 by Francesco Bognolo, the architect of the Arsenale, brought about by the previous church falling into disrepair. Closed in 1810 and reopened in 1817 as the parish church of the Navy. True to its more than somewhat functional appearance it is now part of the naval museum next door with a naval chaplain officiating at rare services.
Interior
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San Francesco della
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![]() In a quiet and distant part of the city you stumble across a church with a very harmonious and pleasing interior and two calm cloisters. History This church is built on the spot where, tradition says, Saint Mark was driven ashore by a storm on his way back from Aquileia. Here he was told by an angel that the Lagoon was to be his resting place and that the city that shall rise on these lagoons will call you its protector. The original medieval church was built by Franciscans in 1253 on the site of a chapel in a vineyard, hence the church's name, and can be seen now only on Barbari's map of the city. Beginning in 1534, Sansovino's reconstruction created arguably the first Venetian Renaissance interior, at the behest of Doge Andrea Gritti. But he failed to complete the façade (his design is now only preserved on a medal) and so in the 1560s Giovanni Grimini paid for one from Palladio, which was erected in 1568. It was his first ecclesiastical commission and it's a fine and soaring thing (and unusually three-dimensional for him). In the mid-1990s this façade was found to be falling away and was reattached and restored by Venice in Peril. The Palladian-style overhead gallery supported on columns, which is usually one's first view of this church (right) was built in the mid-19th Century by A. Pigazzi. It linked the former Convento delle Pizzochere to the West, which was acquired by the Observant Franciscans in 1838, with the Palazzo Nunciato, which had previously been a palace belonging to Doge Andrea Gritti, who is buried in the church. (This palazzo housed the Papal Legate, a fact commemorated by the nearby Salizzade della Gatte, or alley of the female cats, a sweet corruption: la gatte/legate, you see?) Both buildings were taken over by the Italian government in 1866 for use as a military tribunal. The church The interior is in the shape of a Latin cross with a single nave and no aisles, but the nave has been extended to form a T-shape: the symbol of salvation and perfection. The harmonious and plainly pleasing interior is in keeping with the austerity of the Observant Franciscans' beliefs, and is said to derive from Prior Francesco Zianni's study of neo-Platonic proportions, and his subsequent messing with Sansovino's plans in order to reflect these beliefs. The proportions were adjusted to revolve around the sacred geometry of the number three, as set out in Friar Francesco Giorgi's De harmonia mundi of 1525 (This book remained a standard work of renaissance occult philosophy for a century, but has never been translated into a modern language.) The Ark of the Covenant and The Temple of Solomon were made to the same proportions, or so the theory goes, and there's a relation to musical harmony in there too. Art highlights The Giustiniani chapel contains an altarpiece that was Veronese's first piece of work in Venice. Another Giustiniani chapel has a bas-relief of The Life of Christ by Pietro Lombardo, with reliefs of the four evangelists by his son Tullio. The Capella Santa contains a Virgin and Child with Saints and Donor, a late Giovanni Bellini (and studio) which is very undisappointing, but the portrait of the donor (Giacomo Dolfin) was changed later. Vasari says that Bellini originally provided the church with 'a beautiful picture of the dead Christ', which was so admired by King Louis XI of France that it had to be presented to him as a gift, and that the replacement was less good and reputed to be mostly the work of a pupil of Bellini called Girolamo Mocetti
Also an odd Madonna and child by Brother
Negroponte. It's his only work, and although it was painted in the mid
15th century it's eccentrically gothic with a sumptuously-painted gown on
the Virgin, painted paper inserts and some quirky figures and
architecture.
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![]() ![]() The old church of San Bartolomeo is visible on Barbari's map of 1500 in the top left hand corner, beyond the spire of the demolished church of San Domenico |
What's with the clock painted onto the façade? In 840 a church was built on this site dedicated
to St Demetrius of Thessalonica. It was renovated in 1070 and dedicated to
St Bartholomew.
In 1291 Bartolomeo Querini, the Bishop of Castello had a hospice built
here for the elderly and the infirm also
dedicated to San Bartolomeo. This
complex was taken over by the Friars Minor (the Minim Friars) in 1580, who converted the
hospice to a monastery eight years later and rebuilt the church in its
current form, with the
continued patronage of the Querini family. It was
consecrated on August 8th 1619. The monastery was suppressed in 1806,
became a barracks and was demolished
in 1855 (1885?) to make way for the building of a school .
In the press Vaporetto Giardini |
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San Giorgio dei Greci |
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History Built for the Greek community in Venice, who had previously shared the church of San Biagio and which numbered around 4000 at the time. Greek scholars contributed much towards Venice's dominance of the printing trade, and thereby also to its eminence as a seat of Renaissance learning. The church was financed by taxing all the Greek ships arriving in Venice. The
churchBuilt in a Renaissance style reminiscent of Sansovino by Sante Lombardo until his death in 1547, and finished by Giannantonio Chiona. The church was consecrated in 1561 with the cupola by Chiona (and not Palladio, as was once claimed) added ten years later. The adjoining late-17th Century buildings are by Baldassare Longhena, whose work unites the complex. They are the Collegio Flangini and the smaller Scuola di San Nicolo, now a museum of Byzantine icons. The wall along the canal is also by Longhena. Interior |
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The meaning of in Bragora is uncertain. It could refer to a square (agora), a fishing site (bragolare: to fish), or a marshy area (brago) combined with a stagnant canal (gora). History Tradition puts the first church on this site as among the mother churches founded by St Magnus in the 7th Century, but the earliest written record dates to the 9th. It was rebuilt in 1178 and again in 1475. The current Gothic church is this late 15th Century rebuilding. It was restored in 1728.
The church |
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History The church of San Giovanni del Tempio and the adjacent hospital of St Catherine were built in the 11th-12th Century by the Knights Templar of St John. After the dissolution of the Knights Templar the church passed to the Knights of St John of Rhodes, later called the Knights of Malta. The present church dates from a total rebuilding finished in 1565. Church and monastery were suppressed and stripped by the French in the early 19th Century, but repossessed and reopened by the Knights of Malta in 1839 using altars and sculpture from other suppressed churches. The interior Three statues on the high altar (early 16th Century, by Cristoforo del Legname) of saints by Bartolomeo Bergamasco taken from demolished church of San Geminiano. The large cloister contains many tombs of knights. Said also to contain a Baptism of Christ by the school of Giovanni Bellini. Vaporetto San Zaccaria or Arsenale Opening times Hardly ever. But click here for photos of a visite exceptionnelle, by someone else. |
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San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti |
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History The name derives from the Mendicant Friars who founded the Hospice of St Lazarus in 1601, one of the four Ospedali Maggiori. The cloisters of the hospice and the body of the church were designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi and finished in 1631, after his death, with consecration five years later. The canal-facing façade, designed by Antonio Sardi and based upon an earlier design by Scamozzi and built by Sardi's son Giuseppe, was not finished until 1673. Interior The front door is rarely opened, with access gained usually from the ospedali, now the city hospital. It was open on my last visit, due to a funeral taking place, but this rather dissuaded me from visiting. I did walk into the tiled hallway, used as a funerary chapel, which is between these doors and the actual church doors, with the cloisters stretching out through doorways to left and right. In this hallway are several monuments, including two by Sardi. One of these is to Alvise Mocenigo, who defeated the Turks in Crete in the 1650s, but who died in battle in 1654. The church itself also has many tombs, including two designed by Longhena, and one for the Rezzonico family. The interior of the church (1634-37) was designed by Francesco Contin. Vivaldi connection Vivaldi's father taught violin at the music school here from 1689-1693. Like the Pieta it took in abandoned girls who studied music and were trained to sing and play. There is still the grating in the church behind which the orphan girls sang. Art highlights A Crucifixion 'almost certainly' by Veronese, and taken from the San Salvatore degli Incurabili church. As was The Arrival of St Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins at Cologne (see left) by Tintoretto. Campanile 32m (104ft) no bells Dating from 1601 too. Plain with a sundial on the south-facing side. The church in art It peeks in at the left-hand edge of Canaletto's Rio dei Mendicanti: Looking South. Also, from the other direction, The Rio dei Mendicanti by Guardi. Opening times Rarely, except for services. Vaporetto Ospedale |
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Canaletto is buried here, allegedly. History The original 9th Century church was built by the Badoer family and dedicated to St Catherine. Rebuilt in 1054 and rededicated to the canonised Pope Leo IX, a supporter of Venice. Early in the 16th Century the church was rebuilt by Pietro Lombardo and his son. Reconsecrated in 1619, with the campanile demolished mid-century. Restored in 1783, with a plain façade retaining the Doric doorway (see right) from the early-16th Century church. Interior Art highlights Opening times Daily 9.00-12.00
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History Named for St Martin of Tours, this church is traditionally said to have been founded in 650, but more reliable sources say 1026, with rebuilding in 1161. The current church dating from a rebuilding in 1546, funded by Antonio Contarini, to a design by Sansovino begun, which was finished around 1619, with consecration following 1653.
The façade
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San Pietro di Castello |
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It used to be the cathedral of Venice. History San Pietro sits on the island of Oliviolo which was the Easternmost part of the city until the creation of Sant'Elena. A 7th Century church dedicated to Saints Sergio and Bacchus was replaced and enlarged in the 9th Century by St Magnus with one dedicated to Saint Peter. It was a bishop's residence until 1451 when it became the home of the Venetian patriarch. Restored 1506-1522 then, in 1556, patriarch Vincenzo Diedo commissioned Palladio with its rebuilding. Diedo's death meant that Palladio's plans were not implemented (beyond a start made on the façade) until much later in the century, after Palladio's death, and they were then much altered by Smeraldi who had previously worked with Palladio. The façade (left) is another of Palladio's temples-within-temples, being a three-part façade which echoes the interior. The work was finished by Girolamo Grapiglia in 1621. The church remained the see of the bishop of Venice up to the fall of the Republic in 1807, when this function was transferred to San Marco. The interior This too was completed by Girolamo Grapiglia, with a side chapel on the left by Longhena who also designed the somewhat overpopulated altar (1649) which was executed by Clemente Moli. This church has a big and light, and very calm and grey, interior worth the trip in itself. The remains of the first patriarch of Venice, San Lorenzo Giustiniani, are preserved in an urn supported by angels above Longhena's flamboyant high altar. In the right-hand aisle is St Peter's Throne, a carved marble throne upon which St Peter supposedly rested whilst in Antioch, containing a Muslim funerary stele and carved verses from the Koran. The art Luca Giordano and Veronese are represented, and the St Peter and Four Saints by Basaiti has a Bellini-like lustre. It opens out into a lovely landscape and is calmly in keeping with the mood of church. The cloister To the right of the church is the former Patriarchal Palace, with a large gateway leading to a lovely 16th Century cloister (see left) which was made into a barracks in 1807 and is now social housing and very romantically ramshackle. On a visit in early 2007 I recorded a man just singing his heart out in this cloister to an accompaniment of birdsong. Right-click here to download and listen to an mp3 of this fragrant fragment. Or the video is below. It's a bit rough, and made with just a compact still camera, but it has a certain something.
The campanile
54m (175ft) manual bells |
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San Zanipolo |
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Often compared to the Frari, but not always favourably. History This is the great church of the Dominican order, just as the Frari is the great church of the Franciscans. The sites which were granted to them are far from the other and far from the political centre of Venice. The land for this church was, like that for the Frari, also presented to the order by Doge Jacopo Tiepolo. The church was finished in 14th Century and consecrated in 1430. Like the Frari it also gets called 'a Venetian Pantheon' as it has twenty-five tombs of doges. The church was not, as you might think, named after the apostles John and Paul (Giovanni and Paulo). The patron saints of this church are two obscure martyr-soldier saints of the same names. Images of these saints can be seen in the stained glass window, standing alongside Saint George and Saint Theodore. The church The West front’s huge unfinished brick façade contrasts with the elegance of the decorated façade of the adjoining Scuola Grande di San Marco. The gateway is by Bartolomeo Bon, with columns salvaged from a church on Torcello, and mixes classical details into its essentially gothic form. It was to be part of a remodelled façade but the rest never happened. Notice too the lack of campanile. The interior The interior looms impressively, cross-vaulted with wooden tie beams, like the Frari, but San Zanipolo lost its wooden choir in 1682 and so seems larger. The stained glass window is one of the rare surviving examples from the period produced at Murano to designs mostly by Bartolomeo Vivarini. Art Less chock-full of crowd-pleasing gems than the Frari, San Zanipolo has a Giovanni Bellini polyptych, but it’s an early work lacking the glow and calm of his later stuff. You’ll also find the odd St Anthony Begging by Lotto and some impressive Veronese ceiling paintings in the Chapel of the Rosary. The sequence of five tombs of doges by the Lombardos are a bigger draw especially the three for the Mocinego doges on the entrance wall. The one on the left is by Pietro and the one on the right by his elder son Tullio. The tomb in the middle is embellished by figures seemingly stolen from Pietro's. Lost art Veronese's Supper at the House of Levi was taken by Napoleon and later returned to the Accademia. Tintoretto's Madonna and Saints, with Camerlengos, is now also in the Accademia. Lost graves It is said that the painter Vincenzo Catena - a talented follower/associate of Bellini and Giorgione - is buried here, but no trace or formal record has ever been found. The church in art Many views by the likes of Guardi, Bellotto and Canaletto. Also a watercolour by Sargent which is also from the classic viewpoint. David Roberts made a watercolour of the interior.
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History The church was founded with its convent in 1240 (1224?) by Augustinians who dedicated the church to St Anne and St Catherine. Passed on to Bendictines in 1297 who took up residence in 1305 and then back to Augustinian nuns in the early 16th Century. The current church dates from a rebuilding of 1634-59 by Francesco Contarini after which it was consecrated and dedicated to St Anne. The Benedictine convent was prosecuted for carnal acts in 1491 and 1608. Arcangela Tarabotti lived here in the early 17th Century, she being the author of a number of books, including Paternal Tyranny, which protested at the then-common incarceration of young women with no vocation purely for financial reasons. Church and convent were both suppressed by the French in 1807, with the nuns moved to San Lorenzo. After suppression the convent (which stretches along the canal to the left from the back of the church) became a college for naval cadets, then a barracks in 1850 (with the church used as a gymnasium) and a hospital in 1867, but was always run by the navy. They gave up the building in 1986. The site is now blocks of flats, with a few remaining columns and such kept from the original convent used in the construction of the blocks backing onto the canal. Now owned by the local authority and long-awaiting money for restoration and structural repairs. In November 2008, 55 square meters of the church's decorated ceiling collapsed. It is currently (September 2009) being used merely to store the lumber and rubble created by the nearby building work (see photo below left). Lost art There are five altars taken from this church now to be found in San Biagio. Vaporetto Giardini ![]() The original church, from Barbari's map. |
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A church most famous for the elephant story. History The original church was founded, it is said, in the early 7th Century by the Badoer family and dedicated to Saint Anthony Abbot. The pig being the emblem of this saint, the monks here kept a herd of pigs that were allowed to wander so unchecked that a sumptuary edict was passed in 1409 to limit their unruly rootlings. The church was rebuilt from 1680 to a design possibly by Longhena, although his façade was never completed. Deconsecrated in 1982. Interior A square plan, with ceiling frescos by a pupil of Ricci. The Chapel of San Saba, belonging to the Tiepolo family, featured a painting cycle of the saint's life (1593) by Palma il Giovane. The saint's body was buried here, perhaps by order of Doge Lorenzo Tiepolo (1268-1272). In 1965 Pope Paul VI returned the body to the monastery in Istanbul from which it had been stolen by the Venetians. Amongst funeral memorials is a bust of Procurator Alvise Tiepolo by Vittoria. Art highlights In his Companion Guide to Venice Hugh Honour says that there's 'a fantastic Sacrifice of Noah by Pietro della Vecchia (right of the high altar)'. This artist (also known as Pietro Muttoni) was called della Vecchia for his emulation of the painting styles of his elders (and betters) which bordered on outright forgery. Lost art The San Saba cycle by Palma Giovane, painted in 1593 for the Tiepolo chapel here, is now in the Diocese Museum in Sant'Apollonia. Also the Deposition by Bastiani, taken from here, is now in San Giovanni Battista in Bragora. Campanile 32m (104 ft) electromechanical bells Struck by lightning in 1442 and rebuilt in the 18th Century with an octagonal drum and onion dome. Odd story ![]() In 1817 an elephant broke its chains on the Riva degli Schiavoni and ran amok up and down alleys, terrorising Venice for a whole day. It was finally cornered after it broke into Sant'Antonin and made a barrier of pews using its trunk. A falling beam trapped it, following which - here reports conflict - it was either shot in the church or later in Piazza San Marco. A cannon was used. Byron wrote about the episode in his letters, and a local poet called Pietro Buratti used the episode to satirise the then Austrian government of Venice in an epic poem of more than 800 verses, making the elephant a symbol of persecuted nature. He was later imprisoned for a month for writing the poem. Opening times Vaporetto San Zaccaria |
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History Founded in 1175. In 1211 the body of St Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, was enshrined here following its theft by Venetians from Constantinople. A papal bull of 1407 lead to the creation of a monastery for Benedictine Olivetan monks and this reconstruction, by Giacomo Celega with help from Bartolomeo Tesenato, was completed (or begun?) in 1435. More work followed, before the church was reconsecrated in 1515. The church and monastery were suppressed by the French in 1807 and, it is said, 102 paintings were stripped out. Following use as a barracks, a bakery and an iron foundry (click here to read an article from 1883 condemning this last desecration) the church and monastery were restored in 1915, at the same time as local land reclamation work. It was reconsecrated again in 1929. Only one of its original three cloisters remain but has recently undergone restoration work. Facade Sparsely Venetian-gothic, with a doorcase that stands out a bit, with a sculpture group depicting Admiral Vittore Cappello paying homage to St Helena. This group spent some time in the late 19th/early 20th Centuries on the façade of the church of Sant’Aponal in the sestiere of San Polo. Interior Plain, with an aisleless vaulted nave, and recently restored. Lost art Some paintings in the Accademia. The wooden choir with 34 panels depicting Venice is now lost.
Campanile 52m (169ft) electromechanical
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History The church was built in 1512. Augustinian nuns were then brought from San Giuseppe in Verona to found a convent. Money was short, due to the drain of the war against the League of Cambrai, and so work was not completed until late in the 16th Century. In 1801 the Augustinian nuns were replaced by Silesians. Three cloisters still exist and are home to the Sebastiano Venier Nautical Institute. Church and convent were saved from demolition during the Napoleonic era by the intervention of Beauharnais.
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![]() ![]() The church in an old photograph of uncertain date. The building seen to the left of the façade is no longer there. |
The church
and its convent (to the left) were suppressed in 1810 and most of
the convent, and the campanile, were demolished later in the
century. In 1844 the church and what remained of the convent was
converted into a school for sailors. The church was split into two
floors. Since 1924 it has housed the Liceo Scientifico Giambattista
Benedetti.
Vaporetto
Celestia |
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Santa Maria Ausiliatrice |
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History A church and hospital (called the Hospice of St. Peter and St. Paul) were built here at the beginning of the 11th Century to shelter pilgrims. Then it was occupied by an order of Franciscan nuns, who all died in the plague of 1630, except for Domenica Rossi. The complex later became a hospital and hostel for the poor. The church, originally dedicated to San Gioacchino, was renovated between 1648 and 1736. Contains an 18th century altar with high-relief carving of The Last Supper. Was also once known for a wooden crucifix, now no longer to be seen in the church. Suppressed in 1807. Considerable restoration to the whole complex between October 1996 and January 1999. The hospital was taken over by the Maria Ausiliatrice Institute and is now a student residence, with the church used for exhibitions, especially during the Biennale. Ausiliatrice translates literally as female helper, or protectress, but I read that it means Helper of Christians. Vaporetto Giardini ![]() Photos by Brigitte Eckert |
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History The octagonal church, which faces the lagoon, and its Capuchin monastery were founded in 1649 and the church was consecrated in 1687. Mother Maria Benedetta de Rossi had had a vision, and Doge Francesco da Molin and the senate approved the building, hoping to invoke divine assistance in the war in Crete. The architect was Francesco Contino, who may have been inspired by the octagonal shape of the, then new, Salute church. This church is named for Santa Maria dei Pianto dei Sette Dolori, the Weeping Madonna of the Seven Sorrows. The complex was suppressed in 1810 and the contents stripped. The monastery was bought in 1814 by Abbott Martiis for use as a boys school, with a girls school added later. The church has been variously used as a barracks and for maritime storage, but it was reconsecrated in 1851. The complex is now owned by the hospital who have allowed the church and its campanile to fall into sad ruin. Lost organ Following the church's suppression in 1810 a Nacchini organ was acquired from here by the church on the island of San Servolo. Opening times Closed, and hidden behind a high wall. Vaporetto Ospedale |
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Santa Maria della Fava |
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The entire church is bathed in a terse, sensual light.* ![]() History Tradition has it that the Virgin Mary appeared to St Magnus, Bishop of Oderzo, in the form of a buxom (formosa in Italian) woman and told him to build her a church under a white cloud. And so this, the first church in Venice dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was built, some time in the 7th Century by the Tribuno family. It was rebuilt in the 11th Century. It was rebuilt again in 1492 by Mauro Codussi who kept to the dimensions of the foundations of the (by then almost ruined) 11th Century church. The church was visited by the doge and a procession of twelve young girls every 2nd of February. This procession of 'Marias' was to commemorate the rescue of the brides abducted by pirates from Istria and Trieste from San Pietro di Castello some time in 944. Santa Maria Formosa being the centre for the guild of casselleri (casemakers) who carried out the rescue and requested an annual visit from the doge in reward. The Church The current church was planned by Codussi but the exterior was completed after his death in 1504 by unknown hands. The façade onto the rio was erected in 1542 and commemorates Vincenzo Cappello, a sea captain who defeated the Turks. The façade onto the campo was completed in 1604 and contains portraits of other members of the Cappello family. These façades were paid for by...well, you guess. They were restored by Venice in Peril in the mid-90s. The interior was renovated by merchant Torrino Tononi in 1689. The dome was repaired in 1668 after an earthquake and in 1921 following a hit during Austrian bombing in 1916. A visit Codussi's interior kept the existing Greek cross plan, possibly inspired by San Marco, and also used by him in San Giovanni Grisostomo. It's a very light interior, with Brunelleschi-like dark grey architectural detailing to remind you of churches in Florence. It's a pleasing and compact space to wander around, seemingly simple but with a deceptive complexity that doesn't reveal its pleasures from any one viewpoint, having many surprise corners and crannies to explore. The art Bartolomeo Vivarini's triptych centring on the Madonna della Misericordia is the highlight. It seems to have been created for the marble frames it inhabits and Vivarini's trademark dark and brilliant colours - love that red! - shine out. Palma Vecchio takes up the red brush too - Santa Barbara is another of his beautiful and forceful blondes. She sits on an altar dedicated to the Scuola di Bombardieri (shipbuilders) for whom she is the patron saint. Vasari thought her one of Palma's best works. Campanile 40m (130ft) electromechanical bells De Barbari's map shows a squat brick tower with a sugar-loaf spire surrounded by four pinnacles. This was replaced with the current campanile, designed by Francesco Zucconi, a priest, in 1678-88. On the arch at the base of the campanile is a grotesque mascherone - a carved head said to dispel evil spirits (see left) - which was much loathed by a somewhat squeamish Ruskin. Leering in bestial degradation he said, too foul to be either pictured or described, or to be beheld for more than an instant. He then, in prose somewhat spittle-flecked even for him, goes on to claim that these faces, characteristic of the later years of the Republic, symbolised the evil spirit that lead to Venice's final decline. It seems odd to me that a man who repeatedly argues the supremacy of the 'authentic' gothic over the 'debased' renaissance style should be so set against such grotesques. But he goes on to claim that there's a difference between true and false grotesque. Oh, and he prudishly translated the word formosa as beautiful. And the carved head is said to actually represent someone suffering from fibromatosis or von Recklinghausen's disease. The church in art There's an oil painting by Sickert. The church in literature Santa Maria Formosa plays an important, if sparsely painted, part in Muriel Spark's novel Territorial Rights. The adjective frequently used in the book to describe the church is 'bulbous'.
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Cannaregio
:: Castello :: Dorsoduro
:: Giudecca :: San Marco
:: San Polo :: Santa Croce
:: The Islands :: Demolished