Santo Stefano (Venice)

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Main portal of Santo Stefano
The church at Campo Santo Stefano
The interior
The leaning bell tower (campanile) of the church
Portal tympanum of the convent building: St. Augustine surrounded by Augustinian hermits ; in his hand a book with the beginning of the Rule of Augustine .

The Chiesa di Santo Stefano is a Catholic parish church in Venice . It is located in the San Marco district on Campo Santo Stefano. In its present form, the church dates from the 15th century.

history

The church was founded in 1294 by monks from the Augustinian Hermitage of Sant'Anna di Castello and consecrated to St. Augustine and St. Stephen . The first construction was not finished before 1325. At the beginning of the 15th century, the three-aisled basic structure of the building was left, but major changes were made that shape the appearance of the church to this day. Above all, the adjacent canal Rio del Santissimo was built over, so that the presbytery has been located above the canal ever since. You can still go under the church in a boat.

Campo Santo Stefano

The Campo Santo Stefano, named after the church, is one of the largest squares in Venice and has always had a certain importance (in between this square was also called Campo Francesco Morosini, named after the Doge of the same name, Francesco Morosini ). The bull hunt took place here until 1802, but was abolished that year due to an accident. Between 1807 and 1809 the Venice market was located here. Originally the area of ​​the Campo was overgrown with grass, only a wide avenue called Listone in the middle was paved. This is where the Venetian expression andar al liston for going for a walk is derived. Today there is a monument to Niccolò Tommaseo in the middle of the square . Other important buildings on Campo are the Palazzo Loredan (seat of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti ), the Palazzo Morosini and the Palazzo Pisani.

Scuola dei Laneri di Santo Stefano

Opposite the main portal of the church is the former Scuola dei Laneri di Santo Stefano . It was the seat of a brotherhood of St. Stephen, whose members were mainly wool weavers (Laneri). The Scuola once owned a cycle of five paintings depicting the life of St. Stephen by Vittore Carpaccio . The building has been secularized since 1806.

Building description

Santo Stefano is one of the most important late Gothic churches in Venice. It turns its side facade towards the square, while the beautiful main facade faces a narrow alley, so that its appearance and dimensions are difficult to recognize. This main facade reveals the different heights of the naves. The portal with its Gothic pointed arch, the rich foliage decoration, an angel figure and the God the Father enthroned on the highest point, which is attributed to Bartolomeo Bon , is particularly striking . The 60 meter high leaning church tower leans two meters to the side.

The interior of the bright and spacious church consists of three naves closed off by apses, which are subdivided by wide pointed arches. These carry red marble columns from Verona , whose capitals are painted differently. Red and white diamond-shaped fresco decorations are reminiscent of the Doge's Palace . The wooden, richly decorated five-pass keel ceiling is of particular importance. A beautiful wooden choir stalls were originally located in the central nave in front of the main altar, but were removed and partially re-erected on the walls of the presbytery . Most of the church's altars date from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Attached to the church is the main sacristy, which has some works of art of great value. First and foremost, these are the paintings Christ on the Mount of Olives , Last Supper and the Watching of Christ by Jacopo Tintoretto . Other paintings are the two depictions of St. Nicholas and St. Lawrence by Bartolomeo Vivarini , as well as three scenes of the birth of Christ , the Adoration of the Magi and the Bethlehemite Child Murder by Gaspare Diziani and a painted crucifix by Paolo Veneziano . In the cloister there are sculptures by Jacobello and Pierpaolo della Masegne, Tullio Lombardo and a tomb by Antonio Canova for Giovanni Falier (1808). The treasury contains church equipment from the Middle Ages to the Baroque period.

There are numerous graves in the church, including those of Giovanni Gabrieli and the Doge Andrea Contarini and Francesco Morosini .

literature

Web links

Commons : Santo Stefano (Venice)  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files


Coordinates: 45 ° 25 ′ 59.4 ″  N , 12 ° 19 ′ 48.7 ″  E