Venice:Giudecca:Churches

Convertite
		History Founded in 1534 as part of a complex that also included a convent and a hospice for reformed prostitutes. Originally named for St Mary Magdelene it became known as delle Convertite to reflect its job of converting 'fallen' women. The institution soon became notorious, however, due to its rector Fra Giovanni Pietro Leon using the 400 nuns as his personal harem. He was denounced to the Council of Ten in 1561 and beheaded in Piazza San Marco (it took 8 goes, evidently) before his remains were burned. Suppressed by the French in the first decade of the 19th Century, the Austrians made the complex into a jail and it has been a women's prison since 1957.
Redentore Andrea Palladio/Antonio Da Ponte 1577-92
The church of San Jacopo, demolished to build the Redentore.		Theatrical! History Commissioned by the Republic to commemorate the end of the 1576 plague (which killed 50,000 people, Titian among them) the church of the Redentore (Redeemer) was built for ceremony. The high and wide staircase and the huge doorway are designed for processions. And the church is made to be seen from afar -the best view (left) being from the Zattare opposite. The Festival of the Redentore, giving thanks for the end of the plague, continues. Every year on the third Sunday in July a bridge on barges is built from the Zattere so that Venetians can make the pilgrimage previously lead by the Doge and the Signoria. The festival is also famous for the fireworks the night before. Reckoned to be Palladio's finest church, it was completed by Da Ponte following Palladio's death. Interior Fine, but with no great paintings. There are three good paintings by Jacopo Bassano, Veronese and Alvise Vivarini but these are in the (rarely open) sacristy. The church in art Il Redentore by Duncan Grant, 1948. Ruskin said It contains three interesting John Bellinis, and also, in the sacristy, a most beautiful Paul Veronese. (The three 'Bellinis' have now been reattributed to 'Bissolo and Alvise Vivarini') Opening times Monday to Saturday: 10.00 to 5.00 Sundays: closed A Chorus Church Vaporetto Redentore

San Giorgio Maggiore Andrea Palladio 1565-97

Conspicuous! As an image of the Salute church screams 'Venice!' so too does a photo of San Giorgio Maggiore taken from in front of the Doge's Palace, usually with parallel-parked gondolas in the foreground. History There's been a church on this island, originally known as the Isola dei Cipressi, since the 9th Century. A Benedictine monastery was established here in 982. The body of Saint Stephen was brought here in 1109 from Constantinople and from then on the Doge and the Signoria visited the church every year on the saint's day, the 26th December, and this became one of the most popular festival days in the Venetian calendar, involving the floating of thousands of candles in the Bacino di San Marco, lasting until the end of the Republic. In 1204 the body of Saint Lucy was brought here too, but her feast day celebrations on the December 13th became so popular that after a storm resulted in the deaths of many people in 1280 her body was moved to the church of Santa Lucia in Cannaregio. The church and monastery were destroyed by an earthquake in 1223 and immediately rebuilt. Palladio's replacement of this gothic church, together with his renovation and enlarging of the monastery, began in 1565. The church was also realigned at this time - its façade originally faced San Marco. Palladio died in 1580 and Simeone Sorella continued the work for a further 30 years. In 1610 Palladio's facade was finally finished, having been begun by Sorella in 1597. The façade Another temple front, it's a development of Palladio's design of for the façade of San Francesco della Vigna. Interior A Latin cross. Light, white-walled and dramatic. Art highlights The two late Tintorettos (maybe even painted in the year of his death) on the walls of the chancel. Also works by the Bassanos, Ricci and Palma il Giovane Lost art Veronese's Wedding Feast at Cana, was looted by Napoleon and is shamefully still in the Louvre. On September 11th 2007, to celebrate the 210th anniversary of the looting, a computer-generated facsimile was hung where the painting should be. The church in art Monet, Turner, Guardi, Canaletto... Campanile 1729 by Scalfarrotto (or 1791 by Benadetto Buratti?) A lift takes you to the top, giving stunning panoramic views towards San Marco and into the monastery's cloisters. Ruskin said It is impossible to conceive a design more gross, more barbarous, more childish in conception, more servile in plagiarism, more insipid in result, more contemptible under every point of rational regard. Observe, also, that when Palladio had got his pediment at the top of the church, he did not know what to do with it; he had no idea of decorating it except by a round hole in the middle ... Palladio had given up colour, and pierced his pediment with a circular cavity, merely because he had not wit enough to fill it with sculpture. The interior of the church is like a large assembly room, and would have been undeserving of a moment's attention, but that it contains some most precious pictures. The Monastery Cosimo de' Medici when he was banished from Florence in 1433 took refuge here. He brought Michelozzo with him who designed and built a library (demolished in 1614 to make way for Longhena's grander library) to show Cosimo's gratitude. There are two cloisters. One Giovanni Buora's Cloister of the Bay Trees begun in 1517 and completed by Buora's son Andrea in 1540. The other is Palladio's untypical Cloister of the Cypresses, begun in 1579, the year before died, but not completed until the mid 17th Century. After spending years as a barracks and ammunitions store in 1951 the monastery was taken over and restored by art patron Count Vittorio Cini , and renamed in memory of his son Giorgio, who was killed in an air crash in 1949. It now hosts conferences and courses and so is not generally open to the public, except at weekends when there are guided tours. Some Benedictine monks remain too. The Cini Foundation website Opening times May to September - Daily: 9.30-12.30 and 2.30-5.30 The church closes half an hour earlier (5.00) in the winter. Vaporetto Isola San Giorgio

Sant’Eufemia
		History Founded in 865 and initially dedicated to four female saints - Euphemia, Dorothy, Tecla and Erasma, but as time passed the first saint's name came to dominate. Reconsecrated in 1371 after rebuilding and renovated in the second half of the 16th Century and again in the mid-18th. The portico along the side (visible in the photo left) is by Michele Sanmicheli. It dates from 1596 and was designed as the choir of the church of Santi Biagio e Cataldo, which was demolished to make way for the Mulino Stucky nearby. Interior Retains its Veneto-Byzantine form despite later restorations and decoration, with some columns and capitals dating from the 11th Century. Art highlights Ceiling frescoes by Giambattista Canal. Altarpiece by Bartolomeo Vivarini. Opening times Mon-Sat: 8.00-12.00 and 3.00-5.00 Sun 3.00-7.00 Vaporetto Sant’Eufemia
Santa Croce Maestro Pellegrini late 15th Century
History Church and monastery founded in the 13th Century, with the church rebuilt in the second half of the 15th by an architect going by the name of Maestro Pellegrini. Façade in the Tuscan style erected 1508-15. Suppressed at the start of the 19th Century. Quite recently restored but still closed, although one guide book says it's being used by an old people's home.
Santi Cosma e Damiano
		Restored quite recently then left again to crumble. Lost art Housed the Tintoretto Madonna in glory, now in the Accademia. Cloisters Once used by the military? Currently being used as studio space by an art foundation
Le Zitelle Andrea Palladio/Jacopo Bozzetto 1581-88
History The church of Santa Maria della Presentazione si better known as Le Zitelle, or The Spinsters, since the convent here ran a hospice (founded by a group of Venetian noblewomen in 1559) for girls from poor families who were in danger of falling into prostitution, which was perceived as a major danger at the time. So the most attractive poor young women were taken in and were trained in lace and music making. The church was designed by Palladio around 1576 for a different site and built by Jacopo Bozzetto from 1581-88. The church The Palladian façade is flanked by the wings of the convent. The buildings extend around the back and the cloister sits behind the church. Art highlights Palma il Giovane is represented as is Francesco Bassano, one of the four sons of Jacopo. The church in art The Giudecca with the Zitelle (right) by Franceso Guardi, in the National Gallery in London. Opening times For mass only: Sundays 10.00-12.00