The Churches of Venice

Cristo Re alla Celestia Favaretto Fisca/Lirussi 1950-52
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		Photos by Brigitte Eckert
La Pietà Giorgio Massari 1745-60
Get your Vivaldi here, ladies and gents. The Four Seasons? We got 'em all! History Famous as the church of the adjacent Ospedale della Pietà, the orphanage where Vivaldi taught and for whose talented girls he composed most of his concerti and oratorios. The current building dates to a rebuilding of the chapel of the Pietà between 1745-60 on a new site. It was built well after Vivaldi's death, but it is possible that the composer advised the architect, Giorgio Massari, on the positioning of the choirs and the use of a vestibule to provide a barrier to the noises of the Riva. Massari had won a competition in 1735 to provide plans for the reconstruction of the whole complex, but only the church was built. The façade was finally finished in 1906. Interior Oval-shaped, like a concert hall, and designed for acoustics. The ceiling painting is The Coronation of the Virgin by Tiepolo. Opening times You might get a limited look around when the box office is open, but otherwise you'll have to stump up for tickets to listen to a concert of (reportedly unsparkling) performances of Vivaldi concerti to get a good look. Vaporetto San Zaccaria
San Biagio Francesco Bognolo 1749-54
		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 Ceiling frescoes attributed to Scagliaro are reported. Through the wrought-iron inner door you might glimpse the monument to Admiral Angelo Emo, by Giovanni Ferrari, taken from Santa Maria dei Servi and placed here in 1818. He was the last admiral of the Venetian Navy, who defeated the Bey of Tunis in 1784-86 and invented the floating battery, which can be seen with him on his monument. There are also five altars taken from the church of Sant'Anna. The local scuola, and their patron saints, commemorated in the church include not only the rope-makers and hemp-tanners as you'd expect, but also the cap-makers, doughnut vendors and vendors of cheap food. Opening times Very rare Vaporetto Arsenale
San Francesco della Vigna Jacopo Sansovino 1534/Andrea Palladio 1568-72/Pietro & Tullio Lombardo
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. The Save Venice pages for this church have good reproductions of these paintings. The church in art View of the Campo and the Church of San Francesco della Vigna by Francesco Guardi (below right). Lost art A relief of The Virgin and Child with God the Father (see right) by Giovanni Buora, partner to Pietro Lombardo, is now in the Victoria & Albert museum in London. It was probably once in one of the Giustiniani chapels. The church in film/TV The convent with the row of columns in front (see above) plays the Questura headquarters in the German TV adaptations of Donna Leon's Brunetti novels. Ruskin said Base Renaissance, but must be visited in order to see the John Bellini. Cloisters In a city not chock-full of such spaces this church has a connected pair of lovely, visitable and very photographable cloisters (above right). Campanile 69m (224ft) electromechanical bells The 12th Century campanile was repeatedly damaged by lightning and then demolished in 1489. The current tower is one of Venice's tallest, along with the Frari's and after San Marco's. It was designed by Bernardo Ongarin and built between 1571 and 1581. Ongarin is buried at its base, as commemorated by a plaque. Opening times Daily 8.00-12.30, 3.00-7.00 Vaporetto Celestia
San Francesco di Paola 1588-1619
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? History 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 . Interior Remodelled in the late 18th Century, but the ceiling was left. An aisleless nave with a barco (nun's choir stall) along the back wall with arms stretching half way down the sides. Ceiling panels by Giovanni Contarini (1603), a pupil of Titian, and commissioned by Cesare Carafa at a cost of more than 80 gold ducats. Several altarpieces by Palma il Giovanni. Also San Francesco di Paula heals a possessed man, one of the series of scenes from the life of the saint, is said to be by Giandomenico Tiepolo. Presbytery vault frescoes by Michele Schiavone. A visit Late one morning I passed and was surprised to find the church open. But it being 11.50 (as it always is when you reach churches you're surprised to find open) I got only a few minutes to admire the famously unusual gallery at the back, with its two narrow arms stretching half way into the church. But I did have a short chat with one of the two chaps chucking me out and he was able to answer my enquiry about the other odd thing about this church, the clock painted on the facade. He shrugged, mentioned that the church used to face another church over a canal (San Domenico) before the canal was filled in and the other church was demolished to make way for the public gardens, and he said that it's because Saint Francis died at 9.30. In the press The church was mentioned in an article about Venice's declining population in the UK Guardian in March 2009. Today the cavernous interior of the church of San Francesco di Paola, complete with a Giandomenico Tiepolo painting, draws as few as eight worshippers to mass. "We did get 150 in for Ash Wednesday," said priest Don Giuseppe Faustini, "and we do fill up for funerals." Opening times 8.00-12.00, 4.00-7.00 Vaporetto Giardini
San Giorgio dei Greci Sante Lombardo/Giannantonio Chiona 1539-1573
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 church Built 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 Orthodox in style, aisleless with a women's gallery (about the construction of which Palladio was said to have been consulted) and an iconostasis, the traditional Orthodox altar screen, with icons by the 16th Century Cretan artist Michele Damaskinos, amongst others. The monument to Gabriele Seviros is said to be the first known work by Longhena. A visit Firstly the courtyard around the church is rather lovely, with olive trees and two fine well heads. Inside the church consists of an aisleless nave with a frescoed central dome (see right). The narthex has a ladies' gallery on top of it and there are those dark wooden stalls all around the plain and grubby walls. But the thing is the icon screen - a gold overload all covered in 46 icon-style paintings, to be contemplated from a fair distance away, it has to be said. It was very enjoyable to sit in here in peace, as the fact that this complex is accessed through a gate seemed to keep visitor numbers low. Campanile 44m (143 ft)manual bells Built in 1582-92 by Simone Sorella, and leaning ever since . Its adjoining loggia (see below) is all that remains of the Renaissance cloister. Opening times Monday, Wednesday – Saturday: 9.00-1.00, 3.00-5.00 Vaporetto San Zaccaria
San Giovanni Battista in Brágora 1475
		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 The façade is transitional: harking back to the gothic of, say, the Frari but verging on the renaissance style of Codussi, who was said to have been inspired by this church when designing San Michele and San Zaccaria. The interior has a ship's-keel roof and old columns. The architect Massari, who designed the church of the Pietà where Vivaldi famously taught, is buried here. Art highlights Remains of 15th Century frescoes, and good stuff by both of the Vivarinis and Cima de Conigliano. Also the Deposition by Bastiani, taken from the church of Sant'Antonino. Vivaldi connection He was born in a house in Calle del Dose nearby on 4th March 1678 and was baptised in this church two months later on the 6th of May. In fact this was his second baptism - he'd been hurriedly baptised at home as it was thought that he was too sickly to survive. The font is on display here, as is a copy of the entry in the registry of births. Campanile The original one can be seen on Matthaeus Merian's map of 1635 (right) but was demolished in 1826 (or 1728?) and replaced with the current belfry. Opening times Monday - Saturday: 3.30 – 5.30 Vaporetto San Zaccaria or Arsenale
San Giovanni di Malta 1565
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.
San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti Vincenzo Scamozzi/Antonio Sardi/Francesco Contin 1601-73
Photo by Brigitte Eckert		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
San Lio Pietro Lombardo 16th Century
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 An aisleless nave created in the 18th Century with four side chapels, The inner façade has tall credenzas used by local confraternities to house their vestments and such. The lovely Gussoni chapel to the right of the high altar is early work by Pietro (and possibly Tulio) Lombardo. Restoration in the mid-80s revealed, beneath layers of plaster, fresco decoration between the cupola ribs - a rare remainder in the work of the Lombardos. Canaletto is, tradition says, buried in this chapel and was baptised in this church. Art highlights Works by Giandomenico Tiepolo, including ceiling frescoes, an altarpiece by Palma il Giovane, and a late and damaged, but still impressive, Titian painting of the Apostle James. The Crucifixion by Pietro Muttoni, also known as Pietro della Vecchia for his emulation of the painting styles of his elders (and betters) which bordered on outright forgery. This painting is described as his best work but also as being more than a little disturbing. A visit It's a surprisingly plush and interesting little church, aisleless with four unsimple side altars, one with a Titian that's not in the best of states. The chapel to the right of the apse is the work of the Lombardo brothers - the overall design is by Pietro and the pieta panel by Tullio. It's also said that the chapel contains the tomb of Canaletto. The ceiling fresco of The Apotheosis of St Leo in Glory and the Exhaltation of the Cross is by Giandomenico Tiepolo. A modestly impressive church, then, quietly hiding some big names and well worth a visit, I say. The attendant was chummy and very helpful too, and so I even asked respectfully if I could take photos and when he said no I accepted it. Even though he left with me and went into a local café getting money out of his pocket...but no, I was good and didn't take advantage. Campanile Can be seen on the De Barbari map, probably dating from the 1054 building. Only the lower section still remains, in the campo to the left of the entrance. Probably truncated in 1783. The church in art Miracle of the Relic of the Holy Cross in Campo San Lio (see right) c.1494, by Giovanni Manseti is in the Accademia. The church's façade (presumably the pre-Lombardo version) is to the right in the painting. It depicts an event in the early fifteenth century when a holy relic would not allow itself to be carried at the funeral of a wicked man and so became too heavy to carry. Vaporetto Rialto Opening times Daily 9.00-12.00
San Lorenzo Simone Sorella, 1592-1602
		Venice's biggest (and most shamefully) closed church. History The original church is said to have been founded in the 6th-7th Century, with its Benedictine convent established in 863 by Orso Partecipazio, who became Doge the year after. The current church dates from a complete rebuilding by Sorella in 1592-1602. Marco Polo had been buried here, but his sarcophagus was lost during the rebuilding. The church was badly damaged in World War 1, after which its art (much of which had come from suppressed churches) was removed and it was closed. The convent was later converted into a hospital. The church has been undergoing restoration for ever. Rumour has it that the deep excavations that have been going on here will result in a museum showing Venice's history down through the layers. Quotes In Dressed for Death by Donna Leon Commisario Brunetti says: “The brick façade of San Lorenzo had been free of scaffolding for the last few months but the church still remained closed...he knew that the church would never be reopened, not in his lifetime...” In his famous guidebook Lorenzetti says that the altar is “monumental…a massive work of classical inspiration with a rich tabernacle ornamented with hard stones, statues of Angels and Saints, and low-reliefs in bronze.” The church in art Clothing Ceremony of a Nun at San Lorenzo, a 1789 painting by Gabriel Bella (left) shows the interior of the church. The painting is in the Querini Stampalia. Opening times None Vaporetto San Zaccaria The campo is also home to a Dingo cat sanctuary. Read more about this (with photos) on the Venice and Cats page on my other website.
San Martino Sansovino 1546 - 1619
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 This was erected in 1897 to a design by engineer Federico Berchet and architect Domenico Rupelo. They retained Sansovino's doorway, to the right of which is a bocca di leone, a lion's mouth, for posting anonymous accusations of one's fellow citizens' sinfulness. The interior A Greek cross plan with eight chapels in pairs at the corners. The flat ceiling is decorated with trompe l'oeil architectural perspectives by Domenico Bruni - in the middle is St Martin in glory by Jacopo Guarana. Next to the pulpit is an altar table with legs in the form of angels by Tullio Lombardo (see below right) which came here from the suppressed and demolished church of San Sepolcro which stood on the Riva degli Schiavone. In the late 1960s the angels were in a poor state, following the 1966 floods, and so were removed and restored by Venice in Peril. The largest chapel is frescoed by Fabio Canal. The tomb of Doge Francesco Erizzo over the side door was evidently conceived to echo the façade of his palazzo, which is visible over the canal through this door. A visit This church is Greek-cross shaped with pairs of chapels at each corner and it gives the impression of greater width than depth. There's a large ceiling fresco with surrounding trompe l'oeil architectural detailing imitating the actual walls. Some attractive monochrome wall painting too. I liked this church a lot. The left-hand chapel near the front has signs pointing to a sacristy leading you through open doors, which I took as an invitation. The sacristy itself can best be described as a 'working' sacristy (i.e. a bit of a mess) but has an interesting fresco covering the ceiling with regular stripes of missing paint, looking just like it was painted between the beams which were later removed. But that seems unlikely. Anyway maybe you better not go and look as I was politely ejected after a minute by a chap who did not take my point about the signs looking like they were meant to be followed. And that the box by the door inviting donations from visitors to the sacristy...well, you see my point? (The leaflet provided by the church also guides you to the sacristy, but doesn't mention the ceiling.) The altar by Tullio Lombardo (right) is another draw, even if it is hidden in a dark corner. The scuola The small building attached to the right of the façade is the former Scuola di San Martino built around 1526-32 by the Guild of Ship Caulkers. It was partly rebuilt in 1584 and restored in 1772. Over the door is a 15th Century bas-relief (right) of St Martin dividing his cloak with a poor man, an image which appears on biscuits given to children on the saint's feast day. Campanile 22m (72ft) electromechanical bells Romanesque and dating from the Sansovino rebuilding. Restored in 1902 and 1973. Opening times Monday-Saturday 11.00-12.00, 5.00-6.30 Sunday 10.30-12.30 Vaporetto Arsenale
San Pietro di Castello Andrea Palladio/Francesco Smeraldi/Mauro Codussi (campanile) 1557-1621
Autumnal photo above by Brigitte Eckert		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 Erected in 774, it collapsed in 1120 in a fire, was rebuilt, but destroyed again in a storm in 1442. Rebuilt 1463-64, but damaged by lightening in 1482. Rebuilt 1482-90 by Mauro Codussi, and faced with Istrian stone, it's a chunky and memorable tower (left) and the only stone-clad campanile still standing in Venice. The original dome was blown off in 1659 and replaced with a polygonal drum in 1670. It was described by P. Barbaro in 1482 as 'powerful, isolated, crystal-white. Immobile at its base, yet in movement up there amongst the clouds. It is sculpture, caught between entrapment and flight...ready to flee with the wind.' Restored in 1884, 1902 and 2000. The church in art The Querini Stampalia gallery has L'ingresso del patriarca a San Pietro di Castello by Gabriel Bella (1779). See it here The Gemäldegalerie in Berlin has Canaletto's The Vigilia di San Pietro. Opening times Monday to Saturday: 10.00 to 5.00 Sundays: closed A Chorus Church Vaporetto Giardini
San Zaccaria Antonio Gambello/Mauro Codussi 15th Century
This church has a fine façade, a painting that’ll make you sit and sigh for ages, evocative fresco fragments, and a water-logged crypt. Pretty much perfection then. History The original church on this site was said to be 7th Century. One was certainly built by Doge Agnello Partecipazio (811-27). It was dedicated to St Zacharias, the father of St John the Baptist, whose bones were sent as a gift to Venice by the Byzantine Emperor Leo V while the church was being built. The convent of Benedictine nuns next door is said to have been built at the same time. The church and convent were historically closely connected with the doge – he visited the church every Easter Monday. On 13th September 864, after attending vespers at the church, Doge Pietro Tradinico was set upon by conspirators at the entrance to Campo San Zaccaria and left to die. The ensuing riot meant that fearful nuns had to wait until nightfall to retrieve his body for burial. (In fact a total of three doges have been assassinated in the streets around San Zaccaria.) Later the nuns sacrificed their orchard (for cash) to facilitate the creation of Piazza San Marco by Doge Sebastiano Ziani. This work also saw the demolition of the church of San Geminiano, which was slap bang in the middle of the planned Piazza, with the nun's orchard laying between it and the lagoon and so taking up most of the space that the Piazza was to cover. So it’s no surprise, given this connection, that the state paid for the building of the church we see today. It was also favoured with allowing the campo in front to be considered private property with gates closing its two entrances. The convent was famous for the licentiousness of its pampered and high-born nuns, which might also explain those gates. The 9th Century church burnt down in the fire of 1105, with a hundred nuns suffocated too. The current church was built first by Gambello from 1444-65 and towards the end of this work the old church was given to the convent. Work was completed by Codussi from 1483-1504 and the church was consecrated in 1543 The church The 15th Century church you see as you enter the campo is the third church on the site. The original 9th Century basilica mentioned above was itself built over in the 10th-12th Centuries. The façade of this early gothic church is visible to the right of the current church's façade, along with the attached Benedictine convent, which was closed down by Napoleon and is now a Carabinieri barracks. The arches of the cloister to the left were built over the original convent cemetery. The monumental façade of the main church shows the transition from late gothic to renaissance, as Gambello’s lower two levels are surmounted by Codussi’s plainer upper three colonnades topped by a characteristic semicircular gable and supporting side quadrants. To the left are what's left of 16th Century cloisters, walled up. The interior This is Gambello’s work, with the highlight the ambulatory that curves around behind the altar with chapels radiating - a feature that is rare in Italy and unique in Venice. But red ropes usually prevent our access. The grills through which the nuns from the convent next door took part in services – still to be seen in Sant’Alvise – have here long been covered by paintings. Through a door on the right are three chapels and the crypt. The first is the Chapel of St Athanasius, which was a large part of the old church, rebuilt for the nuns in the mid-15th Century and then converted into the chapel we see around 1595. A door takes you through the Cappella dell'Addolorata, with cases of relics, to the lovely Chapel of St Tarasius. This chapel was also part of the old church, reconstructed in 1440 by Gambello. Fragments of both the 9th Century and the 12th Century church’s tile floors are visible, and the chapel features some very impressive frescoes in the vaulting by Andrea del Castagno, a follower of Masaccio who brought the Tuscan renaissance to Venice when he painted these frescoes in the 1440s, almost half a decade before the renaissance finally took root in Venice. In this chapel you'll also find three well-preserved late-gothic gilded altarpieces by Vivarini and d’Alemagna. The 10th Century colonnaded crypt below is another relic of the older church and the tombs of the doges there are usually romantically covered by water. Artistic highlight Giovanni Bellini’s Madonna and Four Saints over the second altar on the left. It was painted in 1505 when Bellini was about 74. This was the same year that Albrecht Dürer on a visit to Venice described him as 'very old and still the best in painting'. It is painted as a continuation of the surrounding architecture and seems to be a glowing window into another world. Put a Euro in the slot to light the light and let yourself be transported – it just calms you right down and takes you to another place. The painting was looted by Napoleon and kept in Paris for twenty years, before being returned in 1817. During this time it was transferred from panel to canvas. This scary process involves sawing away most of the wood panel from the back of the painting and then dissolving the remaining wood down to the back of the paint layer before 'gluing' the paint layer to a new canvas. Only in Paris could this have been done at the time and, it is said, this explains the painting’s fine state of preservation. But another book says that the painting used to live over the first altar and was in a sorry state, due to damage and bad restoration, before it was restored in 1971. To fit into its current altar the painting had a strip cut from bottom, so losing three rows of tiles and no little painted depth. Some sources claim that these losses occurred during the painting's time in Paris. Campanile 24m (78ft) manual bells The first tower was demolished in the 11th Century, and rebuilt in the 12th with recycled material from the first. It's pyramid-shaped spire is visible in De Barbari's map (right). The spire and belfry collapsed in 1510 and the tower was rebuilt in its current form. Lost art An early Veronese Madonna and Child with saints was also taken to Paris (it had been an altarpiece in the sacristy) and later returned, but to the Accademia and not San Zaccaria. The church in literature Mary Laven's Virgins of Venice has a lot about the nuns, as does Convents and the Body Politic in Late Renaissance Venice (Women in Culture and Society Series) by Jutta Gisela Sperling. The convent is the one to which the heroine is confined in Michelle Lovric’s novel The Remedy. The church in art Francesco Guardi The Visiting Room of the Nuns at San Zaccaria. The doge's visit to San Zaccaria on Easter Monday by Gabriel Bella (right) is in the Querini Stampalia. Ruskin said Early Renaissance, and fine of its kind; a Gothic chapel attached to it is of great beauty. It contains the best John Bellini in Venice, after that of San G. Grisostomo, "The Virgin, with Four Saints;" and is said to contain another John Bellini and a Tintoret, neither of which I have seen. Opening times Daily 10.00–12.00, 4.00-6.00 There is a small entry fee charged to visit the sacristy and the (unmissable) chapels and crypt beyond. Vaporetto San Zaccaria It is reportedly possible to see the two cloisters of the convent if you ask the Carabinieri nicely. There is also often art on sale in rooms in the ex-convent to the right of the church's entrance.
San Zaninovo Matteo Lucchesi 1751-62
Campo photo by Brigitte Eckert		History The name is Venetian dialect for San Giovanni Novo. To distinguish the church from others of the same name it was called San Giovanni in Oleo - St John in Oil - because St John the Evangelist was martyred by being boiled in oil. The original church was founded in 968 by the Trevisan family. It acquired the name Novo when it was rebuilt in the 12th Century, to be consecrated in 1463. The church was demolished and rebuilt in 1751-62, on the same site and with the original orientation, to a design by Matteo Lucchesi (or possibly Giorgio Massari) modelled on the Redentore, although smaller and in a more cramped space. The façade is unfinished, being only built to head height. Interior The altarpiece is (was?) a painting of St John the Evangelist in a Cauldron of Boiling Oil by Francesco Maggiotto. Campanile De Barbari's map (and the map of 1635 right) has an impressive tall structure with an octagonal drum and a spire. This tower was demolished in 1762 and replaced with a Roman-style campanile, by Matteo Lucchesi too. Local colour Famed courtesan and poet Veronica Franco was living in a house nearby when summoned by the Inquisition in 1580. Opening times Closed. Long deconsecrated, the building's last reported planned use was to be converted to an art gallery. Vaporetto San Zaccaria
San Zanipolo Bartolomeo Bon/Lombardo family 14th-15th Centuries
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. Opening times Monday to Saturday 9.30 to 6.00 Sunday 1.00 to 6.00 Vaporetto Ospedale
Sant’Anna Francesco Contino 1634-5
All 3 photos by Brigitte Eckert		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.
Sant’Antonin Longhena (?) 1638-1682
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
Sant’Elena Giacomo Celega 1439
Photo above by Brigitte Eckert		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 bells A campanile was added in 1558, but this was destroyed by the French in 1807. Following the second reconsecration of 1929 a new campanile, the current one, was built by Ferdinando Forlati. It was completed in 1958 (making it Venice's newest campanile) and recently restored. It is said to have been used as a chimney when the church was used as a foundry, but the dates for that don't add up. Opening times Monday - Saturday 5.00 -7.00 Vaporetto Sant'Elena
Sant'Isepo 16th Century
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. Facade A bit of a mess, stylistically. The relief over the door is The Adoration of the Magi, attributed to Giulio dal Moro. Art highlights The Archangel Michael Fighting with the Devil is attributed to the workshop of' Jacopo Tintoretto. Over the high altar is The Adoration of the Shepherds by Veronese. Frescoes by Palma il Giovane. Monuments to doges including a biggy to Doge Marino Grimani designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi with figures and reliefs by Bartolomeo Campagna (see below right). The church is something of Grimini family pantheon, with Girolamo Grimini also paying for the main chapel and the above- mentioned relief by Moro over the door. Campanile 22m (72ft) electromechanical bells 17th Century. The church in art Ponte di San Giuseppe di Castello, Venice by John Singer Sargent (see below). Campo San Giuseppe di Castello by Canaletto (see further below) has Sant'Isepo in the background and the church of San Nicolò di Bari in the foreground. This latter church was later demolished to make way for the public gardens. Opening times 10.00 - 12.00 Vaporetto Giardini		Photo by Brigitte Eckert
Santa Giustina Longhena 1636-7
The church in an old photograph of uncertain date. The building seen to the left of the façade is no longer there.		History Tradition has the church founded in the 7th Century, but records date it from the 12th. It was said to incorporate the stone on which the saint knelt. The church was rebuilt in the early 17th Century at the behest of Giovanni Soranzo to commemorate his family, with a new façade by Longhena added in 1640. The Doge visited the church, and a mass was celebrated, on the saint's day (7th October) every year from 1572. This was to commemorate Venice's victory over the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto on the saint's day the year before. Specially minted coins were also given to the nuns. The saint herself also then began to turn up more frequently in Venetian art in celebration of the victory. 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. The façade The Longhena façade remains, although alterations by Giovanni Casoni when the church was converted for use as a school led to its curved pediment (see print below) being chopped off and an attic installed. Busts of the Soranzo family by Clemente Moli on the sarcophagi on the façade became so corroded that they were removed. Lost art A Votive picture, with Santa Giustina by Pietro Muttoni (Pietro della Vecchia) is now in the Accademia. The high altar, with its painting The Martyrdom of Sant'Apollinare by Lattanzio Querena, taken from here was installed in the church of Sant'Aponal when the latter church was reconsecrated and reopened in 1851. The church in literature Goethe writes an account of the ceremonial visit here of the penultimate Doge in 1786 in his Italian Journey. Vaporetto Celestia
Santa Maria Ausiliatrice
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
Santa Maria dei Dereletti Longhena 17th Century
History The church is called Ospedaletto (small hospital) because it was part of the smallest of the four Venetian hospitals created to care for the homeless poor, the sick and the orphaned. (It remains an old-people's home.) Founded in 1528, work on the current church, built to replace the existing small chapel, began in 1575. The original plan was by Palladio, but due to a lack of funds work progressed slowly until 1662 and a large bequest by the merchant Bartolomeo Cargnoni. This sped things up and enlarged the buildings, with Antonio Sardi and his son working on the hospice building and Longhena doing the façade of the church and the interior. Like Vivaldi's Pietà this church/hospice was famous for its accomplished female musicians. The church is now owned by IRE (a public body running homes for the elderly and single mothers) whose offices are next door. The façade Another heavy Ruskin-baiting (see below) baroque affair, with telamons (beefy pilgrims holding the church up on their shoulders), masks with donkey ears, and lots of protrusions generally. In the middle of the row of telemons is a shell with a bust of Cargnoni the benefactor. Interior Recently restored. A rectangular nave with three altars on each side, all by Longhena. The high altar is by Sardi and his son Giuseppe with later work by Longhena. Ceiling frescoes done in 1907 by Giuseppe Cherubini. Art highlights Some good paintings of the 17th and early 18th Centuries. One by Giambattista Tiepolo (The Sacrifice of Bartholomew - an early work, painted when he was 20). In the recently restored music room of the hospice are ceiling frescoes by Jacopo Guarana. Also trompe l'oeil architectural frescoes on the walls by Antonio Mengozzi Colonna showing the hospice's girls performing, with one feeding a greyhound a doughnut. (A visit to the music room seems to involve paying 2 euros and being lead down labyrinthine corridors.) Ruskin said The most monstrous example of the Grotesque renaissance which there is in Venice; the sculptures on its façade representing masses of diseased figures and swollen fruit. It is almost worth devoting an hour to the successive examination of five buildings, as illustrative of the last degradation of the Renaissance. San Moise is the most clumsy, Santa Maria Zobenigo the most impious, St. Eustachio the most ridiculous, the Ospedaletto the most monstrous, and the head at Santa Maria Formosa the most foul. Opening times Thursday-Saturday 3.30-6.30 Vaporetto Ospedale
Santa Maria del Pianto Francesco Contino 1647-59
		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
Santa Maria della Fava Antonio Gaspari /Giorgio Massari 1705-15/1750-53
Called 'St Mary of the Bean' in honour of a sweet bean (or bean-shaped) cake made by a nearby bakery on All Saint's Day. Or is it because sacks of beans were unloaded from barges nearby? History Originally a wooden chapel built in 1480 to house a miracle-working icon of the Madonna which had originally been put on display nearby by the Amadi family. (it's still to be found in the church, over the second altar on the right.) The church was originally called Santa Maria della Consolazione. In 1662 it passed to the Oratorians, an order founded by Saint Philip Neri. In 1701 the order got permission from the Doge to restore and enlarge the church. Work began in 1705 to a design by Antonio Gaspari. Work was interrupted in 1715. Three years later Giorgio Massari took over. In 1736 the old church was demolished - the marble strips in the Campo supposedly represent it's original size. Building to Massari's designs followed from 1750-53. He was responsible for the chancel with the dome, the altars and the ceiling. On June 16th 1912 the church and oratory passed to the Redemptorist Fathers. The church The façade is unfinished. The tall door case has a large pediment featuring a shell, a symbol of the Virgin. Art highlights The nave has statues in niches (four evangelists and four saints) by Giuseppe Bernardi (known as il Torretto) who was Canova's tutor. The reliefs above - Episodes from the life of Saint Philip Neri - are also probably by Torretto. Also a pair of angels by Morleiter either side of the high altar. The Education of the Virgin (first altar on the right) is an early Tiepolo, painted whilst he was still under the influence of Piazetta, but it still glows more than Piazetta's own Virgin and Child with St Philip Neri painted five years earlier (second altar on the left). Piazetta is buried in this church, in the tomb of the printer Albrizzi, in front of the third altar on the right. Vaporetto Rialto Opening times Mon-Sat: 8.30-11.30, 4.30-7.00
Santa Maria Formosa Mauro Codussi 1492
		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'. Opening times Monday to Saturday: 10.00 to 5.00 Sundays: closed A Chorus Church Vaporetto Rialto or San Zaccaria I have no idea what this means, but it sounds great doesn't it? It's a quote from a guidebook called Churches of Venice* by Alessandro Boccato.
Valdese
		Photo by Brigitte Eckert