Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice

The Basilica di Santi Giovanni e Paolo, known in Venetian as San Zanipolo, is a church in the Castello sestiere of Venice, Italy.

Santi Giovanni e Paolo

One of the largest churches in the city, it has the status of a minor basilica. After the 15th century the funeral services of all of Venice's doges were held here, and twenty-five doges are buried in the church.

Description

The huge brick edifice was designed in the Italian Gothic style, and completed in the 1430s. It is the principal Dominican church of Venice, and as such was built to hold large congregations. It is dedicated to John and Paul, not the Biblical Apostles of the same names, but two obscure martyrs of the Early Christian church in Rome, whose names were recorded in the 4th century but whose legend is of a later date.

In 1246, Doge Jacopo Tiepolo donated some swampland to the Dominicans after dreaming of a flock of white doves flying over it. The first church was demolished in 1333, when the current church was begun. It was not completed until 1430.

The vast interior contains many funerary monuments and paintings, as well as the Madonna della Pace, a miraculous Byzantine statue situated in its own chapel in the south aisle, and a foot of Saint Catherine of Siena, the church's chief relic.

Santi Giovanni e Paolo is a parish church of the Vicariate of San Marco-Castello. Other churches of the parish are San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti, the Ospedaletto and the Beata Vergine Addolorata.

The Renaissance Equestrian Statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni (1483), by Andrea del Verrocchio, is located next to the church.

The belltower has 3 bells in D major.

  • The facade of Santi Giovanni e Paolo.
  • Bel-gable
  • Interior of the church.
  • Chapel of the Rosary.

Notable artists
The Capella del Rosario (Chapel of the Rosary)
Built in 1582 to commemorate the victory of Lepanto, contained paintings by Tintoretto, Palma the Younger, Titian (The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr) and Giovanni Bellini, among others, but they were destroyed in a fire in 1867 attributed to anti-Catholic arsonists.

Funerary monuments

After the 15th century the funeral services of all of Venice's doges were held in Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Twenty-five doges are buried in the church, including:

  • Tomb of Jacopo e Lorenzo Tiepolo
  • Tomb of Marino Morosini
  • Monument Giovanni Dolfin
  • Tomb to Marco Corner
  • Monument to Michele Morosini
  • Tomb of Antonio Venier
  • Monument to Michele Steno
  • Monument to Pasquale Malipiero
  • Monument to Nicolo Marcello
  • Monument to Pietro Mocenigo
  • Monument to doge Andrea Vendramin
  • Monument to Giovanni Mocenigo
  • Monument of Leonardo Loredan
  • Monument to Alvise Mocenigo
  • Funeral monument of Sebastiano Venier
  • Funeral monument of Bertuccio Valier
  • Funeral monument of Silvestro Valier

Other people buried in the church include:

  • Monument to Orazio Baglioni
  • Monument to Giambattista Bonzio
  • Monument to Bartolomeo Bragadin
  • Monument to Marcantonio Bragadin
  • Monument to Giacomo Cavalli
  • Monument to Marco Giustiniani della Bragora
  • Monument to Pompeo Giustiniani
  • Monument to Palma il Giovane
  • Monument of Admiral Vettor Pisani
  • Tomb of Niccolò Orsini di Pitigliano
  • Tomb of Leonardo da Prato
  • Monument to Alvise Trevisan
  • Tomb of Edward Windsor

See also
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