Veneto
Venice Sestriere Castello

Antico Arsenale (Old Arsenal)

It can be recognized by its terracotta walls and squares towers. From the thirteenth century it was an essential part of the life of the republic.

According to tradition the Arsenal of Venice was founded in 1104; it has been enlarged over the centuries, coming to occupy a large part of the northeast area of the city.
The term Arsenale is a corruption of the Arab word darsina’a - a house of industry - and for centuries it was the largest in the world with over 16.000 employees at its peak when there were hundreds of galley ships in its basins, ready for war.
On the wall to the right of the entranceway is a bust depicting Dante Alighieri, recalling a visit the poet made to Venice in 1321. Still mainly closed to tourism, the Arsenale is sometimes used for notably important exhibitions and trade fairs.
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After the unfortunate debut at San Pietro di Castello, it was yet again very probably Daniele Barbaro who favored this commission to Palladio, by convincing the Patriarch of Aquileia, Giovanni Grimaldi, to entrust him the facade of San Francesco della Vigna. The choice of Palladio was, in fact, especially significant because it sidelined Jacopo Sansovino, who had built the church thirty years earlier (and also prepared designs for its facade). Palladio thus became a tangible alternative, supported by the most culturally advanced section of the Venetian aristocracy, to the now ageing protagonist of the architectural renovation of Piazza San Marco.

In 1563 Giovanni Grimani, a man of sophisticated tastes and a refined collector of Roman antiquities, had undergone an insidious trial for heresy. Absolved from the charges, he transformed the construction of the facade of San Francesco into an occasion for private self-celebration. From Leon Battista Alberti onwards, Renaissance architects had applied themselves to the difficult task of adapting the facade of a single-volume building, that is the ancient temple, to the nave-and-aisles plan of Christian churches.

With the facade of the church of San Francesco della Vigna, Palladio offered his first concrete response to the problem, after the unfortunately only project obligation of San Pietro di Castello. Since the nave, covered by a great pediment, and the aisles, covered by two half-pediments, were projected onto one plane, the compositional problem became one of organically linking the two systems and the modular relationship between two orders, of which the larger was employed to support the main pediment and the lesser the two half-pediments. The solution achieved by Palladio is brilliant, even if it constrained him to setting both orders on the same high basement.

The architect would skillfully overcome this latter difficulty on the facade of the Redentore by placing a great staircase before the facade’s central section.
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Historical Naval Museum

Its exibits relate the naval history of the Venetian Republic.
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School and church San Giorgio dei Greci

In 1526 the Greek Community in Venice was second only to that of the Jews, and obtained permission from the Patriarch to hold Greek Orthodox services. In 1539 they built the church of San Nicolo' in the style favored by Sansovino and the nearby school of San Nicolo'. This houses a collection of liturgical art and precious Byzantine icons. A part of the collection is housed in the Istituto Ellenico di Studi Bizantini e Post-Bizantini.

Built in 1539 after the Orthodox community had obtained independence from the Patriarch, on a plan by the architect Sante Lomardo, the church features a single nave interior with a hemispheric central cupola.
To the back is an iconostasis - customary in the Greek Orthodox rite - richly decorated in marble and paintings of the Greek-Byzantine school.
Next to the church, in a building by B. Longhena - the Hall of the Confraternity of St Nicholas of the Greeks - is a collection of Greek icons and works by Greek and Venetian painters.
These two edifices indicate the high standing of the Greek community that had already been established here in the 11th century (only the Jewish community was more numerous).
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Church of San Zaccaria

Originally, there was a Benedictine nunnery next to it (which was then suppressed by the Napoleonic edicts). The nunnery was reserved for young Patrician novices, even if they had no vocation. As it belonged to the Benedictine order the rules were fairly lax. The church was founded in the ninth and was renovated several times in different architectural styles that can still be seen today. The bell tower dates back to the ninth century. The most important work was carried out in 1458 and culminated in the impressive facade by Codussi. An early period church reconstructed in the 16th century, it has a fine Renaissance facade by Codussi who also partly altered the architecture.
The interior is of the greatest interest as Gothic elements blend with the new Renaissance forms, resulting in a grand and solemnly elegant use of space.
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Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo

Built in 1368, a fine Gothic building with a basilica and 5 Gothic apses. it is Venice's Pantheon because it holds the tombs of twenty-five doges, great commanders and famous men of the Venetian Republic, whose remains are housed in fine tombs. In addition, a large polyptych by Giovanni Bellini decorates the altar by Vincenzo Ferrer, and an altar-piece by Lorenzo Lotto displays the alms of Saint Anthony. Consecrated in the 1st half of the 15thC, the church of Saints John and Paul features a series of Gothic arches while the rather later portal has touches of the Renaissance style.
The architectural features of the apse are of great interest; while the interior has numerous works of art including a Polyptych by G. Bellini and a canvas by L. Lotto.
The funerary monuments of doges and illustrious personages are interesting and make San Giovanni e Paolo the pantheon of the history of Venice.
After the Basilica of St Mark, in point of fact, this was considered the official church for the public life of the Serenissima, as the Venetian Republic was known, and the bodies of the Doges were brought here after the lying-in-state and the public funeral rites.
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Courtesy of Venezia Tourist Board

© 1997-2010 Enrico Massetti
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