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Cannaregio |
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A detail from the
Merian map of 1635 showing Corpus Domini and Santa Lucia on the north bank of the
Grand Canal and
Santa Croce and the old church of San Simeon on the south bank.
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Corpus Domini
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Established 1393 by the abbess Lucia Tiepolo, then the abbess of the
declining convent of Sant'Apostolo in lagoon, who had a vision that she
must set up a new church in Venice. Within six years she had found some
land on the northwest tip of the city, and obtained funds from a nobleman
called Francesco Rabia, and built a small church. The convent was
initially just a dormitory off the church, but soon afterwards two devout
young girls, Isabetta and Andreola Tommasini had visions that they should
build a church in the same place. Their confessor, Giovanni Dominici, had
the same vision and helped them to obtain papal permission. Lucia Tiepolo
agreed to become the first priora of the convent they now built, and to
change the
order from Benedictine to Dominican. The girls' dowries were used for the
construction of a new church and a substantial convent that was
consecrated in 1394. The complex was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in
1440, with reconsecration in 1444.
The body of Saint Lucy was put in Corpus Domini during the 1400s, while
they were building her own church nearby. But it was there so long that
the nuns began to consider it their own and were very unhappy about letting
it go. So much so that in 1476 a little commando unit of nuns stole the
body from the monastery of Santa Lucia and brought it back, hiding it
under some stairs. Even a delegation
from the Council of Ten did not succeed in getting the ninja nuns to
reveal where the body was. So they ordered the doors and windows of Corpus Domini to be walled up until they let their hostage out. When the builders
arrived, the nuns gave up the body.
The Convent of the Penitential Sisters of Saint
Dominic in Venice, the church, and the kitchen gardens were demolished in 1810
to make way for the railway company's offices. Two altars, with paintings
by Visentini, were salvaged and taken to San Pietro di Castello, but
reassembled poorly and unrecognisably. A façade model and the print (right) are in the Correr museum.
The Canaletto (above right) has Corpus Domini on the left and the
also-demolished church of Santa Croce on the right. |
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Crociferi
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The Gesuiti church was built on the site of… A Tintoretto Assumption
from the Crociferi is now in the Gesuiti. The Presentation of Jesus in
the Temple by him is now in the Accademia. Veronese's Adoration
of the shepherds in now in San Zanipolo.
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Santa
Lucia
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History
There had been a church on this site since 1192, probably. In 1280 the
remains of St Lucy were brought here from San Giorgio Maggiore. Restored
in 1343 it later passed from the Dominicans to Augustinian nuns who
added a convent. Disputes between the nuns here and at Corpus Domini
over St Lucy's remains (see below) were finally resolved with Santa
Lucia's Augustinians getting the remains and the Corpus Domini
Dominicans getting 40 gold ducats.
Original gothic church (visible on De Barbari's map) rebuilt 1580-90
by Leonardo Mocinego with a chapel for his family by Palladio. This church
had a classical façade (see print right). The nuns were removed
in 1806 and St Lucy's remains were acquired by the church of San Geremia.
Complex demolished during 1840s by the Austrians to
make way for the railway station of the same name, itself replaced by the current station in 1954.
Campanile
Tower in De Barbari map replaced with two small towers during 1580s
rebuilding.
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Santa Maria Nova
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History
Built around 971, by the Borselli familly. Originally dedicated to Our
Lady of the Assumption, it became known as Santa Maria Nova in the 13th
Century. The church fell down in 1535, was rebuilt, and then restored
in the 18th Century, with the façade finished by Giovanni Vettori in 1760. Closed in 1808,
its art and ornaments were dispersed and the remains of those buried
here taken to the ossuary island of Sant'Ariano. These remains included
those of the philosopher Fortunio Spira, the Wocowich-Lazzari family and
Doge Nicolo Contarini. Conte Widman bought some
bits of the campanile, which had been rebuilt after collapsing in 1488 and
was demolished in 1839, for use in some houses he was building in Casselleria.
The church was demolished in 1852.
The Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli and the apse of Santa Maria
Nuova by Bernardo Bellotto (right).
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Castello
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This detail from the map of 1635 shows the three
churches demolished to make way for the
Giardini Pubblici.
In the foreground
Sant'Antonio, above it to the left
is the domed
San Nicolò.
Then in front of the
walls of the Arsenale (top left) is
San
Domenico on
this side of the now filled-in canal.
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The three churches demolished in 1808
to make way for the public gardens
Sant'Antonio di Castello |
Built from 1346, the first stone was laid by the founder, Fra
Giotto degli Abbati, a Florentine nobleman and prior of the Canons of St
Anthony. Monastery and church passed to the Laterans until they were
suppressed in 1768.
One of the three churches demolished in 1808 by Napoleon to make way for the
public gardens, this one seems to have been the greatest loss. Two of the
church's bells were sold to help pay for the under funded project and
materials from the church used towards one building, later demolished to
make way for the Biennale buildings later in the 19th Century. The Doric
arch of the Lando chapel of the church still stands forlornly in the
Giardini Pubblici (see below right) and is all that's left of the fabric of the three demolished
churches.
In Sir Francis Palgrave's Hand-book for Travellers in Northern Italy
of 1842, the author wrote that the creation of the Giardini Pubblici
'afforded an excuse for pulling down a few churches which in itself was
a recommendation for the French.'
The Accademia has a Veneziano polyptych and Apparition of the
Martyrs of Mount Ararat (below right) by Carpaccio which depicts the interior of the
church before his own painting of the Crucifixion and Glorification of the ten thousand
Martyrs of Mount Ararat (also in the Accademia) was installed over the Ottoboni altar.
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San Domenico
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Monastery and church founded in 1312. Restored 1506 and 1536. After the
Arsenale fire of 1569 the complex was rebuilt in 1586 and the church
consecrated in 1609. The court of the Inquisition was held here until 1560
when it moved to the Frari. Prohibited books that had accumulated were
burnt on the 29th April and the ashes tipped into the canal that is now
the Via Garibaldi. Given to Austrian navy in 1807 and soon after
demolished, it being one of the three churches demolished to make way for the Giardini Pubblici, San Domenico faced the (still standing) church of San
Francesco di Paula across a canal that was filled in to make the Via
Garibaldi. A bridge named after San Domenico was lost too.
The bridge and San Bartolomeo (the previous church on the site of San
Franceso di Paola) are also visible in the Barbari map of 1500 (see
right)
beyond San Domenico in the top left-hand corner.
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San Nicolò
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One of the three churches demolished by Napoleon to make way for the
Giardini Pubblici, but is said to have fallen into disuse as a church long
before. It is the church in the foreground (right).
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San Daniele Profeta
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Founded on the island of San Daniele in 820 by the Bragadin family. Given
in 1138 to Manfredo, a Cistercian, and he built a monastery, consecrated
in 1219. In 1437 the Augustinian nuns from Sant'Andrea de Zirada moved
here. The church had a nave and two aisles with rectangular apses. Their
were twelve columns of red Verona marble and nine alters. The complex
became a French barracks in 1806 and an Austrian one in 1815.
After the church was demolished the remaining buildings became the college
of the Royal Imperial Nave in 1839. What's left is still in use as a
barracks.
Lost art
Bas relief of Daniel in the Lions' Den and a1469 carving of the
saint now at the Ca'Bragadin (Bigaglia) in Barbaria de le Tole. Two female
saints by Alvise Vivarini and Daniel in the Lions' Den by Pietro da
Cortona in the Accademia.
San Giustina
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San Provolo San Procolo
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Probably founded by the Partecipazio family in 814, with priests
nominated by the abbess from the nearby convent of San Zaccaria. Rebuilt
in 1384 and again between 1477 and 1504. Restored 1642. Suppressed in
1808, today there's a house and bar on the site. A Signor Procolo was
said to have died when the bell from this church's campanile fell on
him. Whether the coincidence of his name makes this story more or less
believable I leave up to you to decide.
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San Sepulcro
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On the Riva degli Schiavone. Altar table with legs in the form of
angels by Tullio Lombardo is now in San Martino.
Zorzi p.258
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San Severo
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Originally built between 811 and 827 and then rebuilt
after the fire of 1105. It kept this form until it was suppressed on
12th April 1813 and demolished in 1829. The Austrians built a prison on
the site, which closed in 1929. |
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San Severo, in a detail from the map of 1635,
with the dome of San Zaccaria in the foreground. |
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Santa Maria Celeste |
Built 1119-1239 by the Celsi family, with convent dedicated to St Mary
of Heaven. Convent rebuilt following Arsenale fire of 1569 by Andrea
Palladio. The church rebuilding fell to Vincenzo Scamozzi in 1581, who planned a
domed structure (inspired by Palladio's rejected original design for the
Redentore) but the nuns rejected his plans just as the dome was
being installed. In 1611, having demolished this building, they erected a latin-cross shaped church, which was demolished in 1810. The convent was
used as Austrian garrison barracks from 1858-76, as a school for naval
mechanics from the Arsenale from 1873-1943. In 1930 part of it was
converted into public housing, the rest being an historical archive.
Restoration recently begun on the cloister.
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Santa Maria delle Vergini
Le Virgini |
Built by Doge Pietro Ziani, at the suggestion of Ugolino, Bishop of
Ostia, who later became Pope Gregory IX, on a visit as apostolic legate
in 1224. The
Augustinian convent and
church were named Santa Maria Nova, to commemorate the church in
Palestine destroyed by the Saracens. After the usual fires and
reconstructions Guglielmo dei Grigi was commissioned to undertake
rebuilding between 1547 and 1549. Church and monastery suppressed and
given to the Navy in 1806, becoming a prison in 1809. The choir was
demolished in 1822, the remaining parts in 1844. All that's left is this
relief (right),
God the Father with the Virgin and Saints, now embedded in the wall of the Arsenale.
Campanile
A chunky one, as seen in the map of 1635, demolished between 1844 and
1869 to make way for a dry dock. |
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A detail from the map of 1635 showing Santa Maria delle Vergini with (left foreground) San
Daniel
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Santa Marina |
Founded in 1130 by the Balbi family and dedicated to San
Liberale and Sant'Alassio. The body of St Margaret of Antioch (known as
Santa Marina) was brought here from Constantinople in 1231 and placed on
the high altar, resulting in the church switching dedication to her. The
church had two fine monuments, one to Doge Michele Steno, the other to
Doge Nicolò Marcello and the work of Pietro Lombardo. Both are now in
San Zanipolo. The church was restored a few times before suppression in
1810. In 1818 it became a tavern. It was demolished in 1820 to make way
for housing. The church is commemorated by a small altar
with an image of Santa Marina on the wall of a house.
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Santa Ternità
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History
There's still a campo named after church, which was at what is now
number 3026. The church founded during the reign of
Doge Pietro Centranico (1026-1032) by the Celsi and Sagredo
families. The remains of San Gherardo Sagredo, martyred in Hungary in
1046, were preserved as a relic in the family chapel to the left of the
high altar. He is now commemorated by the Sagredo chapel in San
Francesco della Vigna. Santa Ternità
was restored in the 13th Century, when the body of St Athanasius was
brought here. Rebuilt in 1607, in 1569 after a fire at the Arsenale, and
in 1721. Suppressed in 1810 and used as a timber store, until it was demolished in 1832.
Campanile
12th Century and detached, it was truncated when the church was
demolished and was lived in, until it collapsed on 13th December 1880,
burying Giovanni Baratelli, a ship's engineer, who was dug out unharmed.
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A detail from the map of 1635 showing Santa Ternità
in the
left foreground, with
Santa Maria Celeste to the right and
San Francesco della Vigna, top left.
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Dorsoduro
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Santa Maria dell'Umilita demolished to make room for the Salute. Had
a fine Tintoretto Deposition of c.1560 now in the Accademia. Also
three oval ceiling paintings by Veronese, moved to San Zanipolo in 1919.
Chiesa degli Incurabili – Tintoretto's Voyage of St Ursula with
the eleven thousand virgins
and a Crucifixion by Veronese taken from this
church to San Lazzaro
dei Mendicanti
San Basilio
Built in either late 9th or early 10th Century. Renovated after fire of
1105, but collapsed during 1347 earthquake. Rebuilt and reconsecrated
1348. Further restoration 1476 to 1514. Had a nave and two aisles
separated by columns, with ship's-keel ceilng and an image of St Basil
over the altar. Restored by Andrea Tirali in 1730. Became a timber
warehouse before being demolished in 1824.
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San Marco
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San Geminiano (left)
There is said to have been a church on roughly this site (facing the Basilica San
Marco across the Piazza) since 552. I say roughly because a medieval
church was demolished in the early 13th Century to extend the Piazza. This
annoyed the pope and a new church was built further to the West, on the Rio Balari,
which was later buried beneath paving. Begun by Venetian architect
Cristoforo da Legname in 1505, this church was completed by Jacopo
Sansovino in 1575 as part of his major improvements to the whole piazza.
Work on the interior and façade was financed by Tommaso Rangone on
condition his effigy was displayed, as in San Giuliano. It was demolished,
to no small outcry, to make way for the staircase of Napoleon's Palazzo Reale
in May 1807. Since 1797 it had served as a military barracks due to its
strategic position. It was originally to be replaced by a triumphal arch. Sansovino
was buried in the church but his remains moved upon demolition to the Seminario della Salute.
His children, Fiorenza and Francesco had also been buried in the church.
Sansovino described the church as being lavishly decorated within and
encrusted with marble and Istrian stone on the outside. It is extremely
rich and well-conceived in design.
In the Hand-book for Travellers in Northern Italy, a guidebook of
1842, the author, Sir Francis Palgrave wrote that the destruction of San
Geminiano was a 'Gallic vandalism ...which has inflicted such
irreparable injury upon the fine arts'.
The nearby church of
San Maurizio was designed by patrician Pietro Zaguri
who drew inspiration from Codussi and from Sansovino’s San Giminiano.
Lost art
Three statues of saints by Bartolomeo Bergamasco taken from the demolished
church of San Geminiano now on the high altar of San Giovanni di Malta.
The remains of San Geminiano transferred to church of Santissimo Nome di
Gesu. Organ doors by Veronese now in the Galleria Estense in Modena. Bust
of Alessandro Vittoria now in the Ca' d'Oro.
Sant'Angelo
Founded in 920, campanile toppled by earthquake in 1084, burnt down in 1105, rebuilt in 1431, and restored after
another fire in 1685. Closed on the 14th October 1810 and used as a
warehouse until it was demolished in 1837.
Campanile
The first one was toppled by an earthquake in in 1084. A latter detached campanile
fell down in 1347 after, it is said, the bells rang out of their own
accord. In 1455 an architect called Fioravanti tried to correct a strong
inclination and a day later it fell, killing two friars. It was rebuilt in
1456 but struck by lightening in 1487. A restored campanile lasted until
the church was demolished in 1837. The church appears in paintings by Canaletto and
Bella in the Querini Stampalia gallery.
Santa Maria dell'Ascensione (Santa Maria in Broglio)
In the 12th century the order of Templars owned the church of Santa
Maria in Broglio (from brolo meaning garden or
orchard) with an attached hospice for pilgrims on their way to the
holy land. It stood on the site of the current Hotel Luna by the
Vallaresso vaporetto stop. Abandoned in 1311, when Pope Clement V
abolished the Templars the complex passed to the Knights of Malta, who
later sold it to the procurators of San Marco. They rented it to a Fra
Malasa on the understanding that he didn't use it to house the poor but
keep it available for visiting ambassadors. In the late-15th Century the
monastery was rented to the Osteria della Luna. Restoration work on the
church was begun in 1516 by the confraternity of the Holy Spirit (aka
the confraternity of the Ascension) but was not completed until 1597,
because of conflicts with the confraternity of the Blind. The church was
later renamed after the Feast of the Ascension and closed in 1810. It
was used as a warehouse until it was demolished in 1824 to make way for
an extension to the hotel.
San Paterniano
Tradition has it that the Andreada family founded a wooden church in the
10th Century dedicated to St Paternian, an image of whom had been
brought from the March of Ancona in 890 and venerated in a tabernacle.
This church burnt down in 976 and was rebuilt in stone between 1005 and
1168 using eight Greek marble columns brought from Constantinople.
Rebuilt again in 1437 with a nave, two aisles and seven altars. Closed
in 1810. The church and its pentagonal campanile dating from 999, and so
the oldest in Venice, was demolished by the Town
Council in 1871 to make way for the Manin statue in Campo Manin after
having first put them up for auction and having found no takers.
Santi Filippo e Giacomo Built in 900, restored in 1683,
secularised in 1807 and demolished. Was attached to
the cloister of Sant’Appolonia.
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San Polo
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Sant'Agostin to the left, San Boldo to the right,
San Giacomo dell’Orio to the rear.
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San Boldo
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Originally dedicated to Sant’Agata, San Boldo is Venetian dialect for St
Hubald. According to tradition built by the Tron and Zusto families in
1088, damaged by fire in 1105 enlarged in 1305. Rebuilt, and
reopened in 1739, after plans by Giorgio Massari. After the 18th C
rebuilding works by Rocco Marconi, Paolo Piazza, Gaetano Zomponi and
Francesco Pittoni could be found here. closed 1808 and demolished in
August 1826 or 1828, only the truncated 14th Century campanile remains,
now attached to the Palazzo Grioni, also sometimes called the Palazzo San
Boldo. (However, another source says that this is the Palazzo Businello S.
Boldo and that the Palazzo Grimani (aka Grioni?) was demolished. The
church façade was to the right and faced the campo (see photo right)
A 14th Century relief of Saint Agatha saved from the church is now in the
Museo Patriarcale.
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San Stin nr Frari
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Venetian dialect for San Stefanino the Confessor. Original church
built in 10th Century, destroyed by the fire in 1105, rebuilt in 1295. Had an Assumption by
Tintoretto, now in the Accademia. Suppressed by the French in 1810
and demolished soon after. The base of the campanile and the remains of a
chapel still exist, and were used until quite recently as an
upholsterer's workshop. Campo of same name (the church was on rio side) has
a well head with a relief depicting St Stephen. |
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Sant'Agostin
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Founded 1001 (959?) by the Bishop of Olivolo, Pietro
Marturio Quintavalle, who left the church in his will to the future
Bishops of Olivolo. Rebuilt twice after fires in 1149 and 1630, in the
latter case to designs by Francesco Contino, with consecration following
in 1691. Contained art by Bernardino, Molinari, and Paris Bordone.
Suppressed in 1808, closed in 1810. Used as a mill from 1813 (to ease
the blockade) and then as a warehouse until it was demolished in 1873.
Housing built on the site. During work to install sewage treatment tanks
in 2000 the foundations of the last church were found and then four
graves dating from the first church. They had been opened and desecrated
by the builders of the second church, and the bones of about 20 other
corpses were found mixed in.
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San Nicolò dei Frari (San Nicolò della Lattuga)
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Given the diminutive San Nicoletto to differentiate it from San
Nicolò del Lido, both churches being dedicated to St Nicholas of Myra. Built around 1332 by
Prosecutor Nicolò Lion, the man who discovered Doge Marin Falier's
conspiracy in 1355. He had been miraculously cured of a serious
illness by eating some lettuces from the Frari's friars' garden and so founded
this small church and convent on the site of the garden and left it to them after his death.
He died in 1356 and was buried in this church, his tomb being moved to the
Frari after the church was closed in 1807. There had been major rebuilding
in the 16th Century, with an altarpiece by Titian The Madonna and Child
in Glory with Angels and Saints (see right) (now in the Vatican
museum) installed in 1533-35. The church later acquired many works
by Veronese, three of these works are now in the Accademia and five in San Zanipolo.
When the complex was closed in 1806 the monks moved to the Frari, the
monastery being used by the French as a barracks for a while and used as a
mill from 1813 (to ease the blockade) and demolished shortly after. |
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Giudecca |
A detail from the map of 1635 showing
Santa Croce to the west with San Giovanni Battista to the east, and the then-new church of Le Zitelle in the Centre. |
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San Giacomo della Giudecca
1343 |
The order of the Servi de Maria (Servites) based in Cannaregio were given
money in 1338 by Marsilio da Carrara, Signore of Padua, to build a church
called Santa Maria Novella on the Giudecca. The church was built on the
site of an oratory dedicated to San Giacomo, and inherited the name.
(Until 1999 the local Vaporetto stop was also called San Giacomo.) Before
the building of the Redentore in the 16th Century this was the biggest
church on Giudecca. Suppressed by the French and demolished in 1808. The
monastery became a barracks in 1821 and was later demolished to make way for
public housing.
Visible to right of The Church of the Redentore (detail right) by
Canaletto (Manchester Art Gallery) |
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San Giovanni Battista |
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Church and monastery founded in 1333 by Bonaccorso de
Benedetti, a merchant from Lucca and occupied by Camaldolesi monks from
San Mattia on Murano. The complex stood at the tip of Giudecca, opposite
San Giorgio (see map above). It was completed in 1344, with the addition of a hospital
for the poor in 1369. Church renovated and consecrated in 1371 by Paolo Foscari, the Bishop of Castello. Once had organ doors painted by Cima de
Conigliano. By 1820 the church was no more. |
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Santi Biagio e Cataldo |
Demolished to make way for the Mulino Stucky.
Sant'Angelo giudecca Freely p256 Zorzi p105 |
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detail from the map of 1635
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Santa
Croce
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Santa Chiara
Founded 1236, rebuilt several times, caught fire in 1574, consecrated
during rebuilding work in 1620. Convent and church suppressed in 1806,
convent converted into a military hospital 1819. All but the courtyard of
the cloister demolished in second half of 19th Century - this is now part
of the police headquarters. |
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Santa Croce
Established by refugees fleeing the Lombards in the 6th Century,
becoming a parish church in 774. Monastery established early 12th Century
by Cluniac monks from France. A scandal forced the monks to leave in 1341.
After renovation the complex passed to the Poor Clares in 1460.
Restoration to plans by Antonio da Ponte from 1583. Church consecrated in
1600 and acquired by the patriarch. Suppressed in 1810, used as a
warehouse and then demolished in the early 20th Century to make way for the grim and dusty Giardino
Popadopoli. The church had nine altars and was richly decorated. A column from the church
is all that remains, in the corner of the garden wall on Rio dei
Tollentini
Canaletto sketch (above) with Santa Croce on the right is the probable
source of the Bellotto painting (below).
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The
Islands
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S. Giovanni dei Battuti Murano
There was a Scuola di San Giovanni dei Battuti from which some panelling, carved
by Pietro Morando, was removed and installed in the
sacristy of San Pietro Martire on Murano. Use of the term 'Battuti', or
'the beaten', seems to suggest a flagellant order. Which might explain the
expressions on the faces of the people in the carvings.
Santo Stefano Murano
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San Cristoforo by Pietro Lombardo, demolished to build San Michele
cemetery |
San Clemente works from it are in Sant’Appolonia
San Severo Tintoretto Crucifixion now in the Accademia.
Santa Marina used as tavern in 19th Cent - Morris p74 |
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