Chiesa di San Vitale (Vidal) / Church of St. Vitalis (Venice)
N 45° 25.944 E 012° 19.783
33T E 291131 N 5034455
Church of St. Vitalis (Chiesa di San Vitale or Vidal) is interesting example of medieval Venetian church from XIth century, which exterior was twice fundamentally rebuilt during Baroque era...
Waymark Code: WMQA45
Location: Veneto, Italy
Date Posted: 01/20/2016
Views: 6
Church of St. Vitalis was founded in 1084 by Doge Vitale Falier who is thought to have built it in honour of his name saint. Church was rebuilt after the fire of 1105, and again from 1656 to a design by Antonio Gaspari. The façade then built through a bequest from Doge Carlo Contarini by Andrea Tirali, who was clearly very influenced by the façade of San Giorgio Maggiore. Long deconsecrated, the church spent some time as an exhibition hall for the Catholic Union of Italian Artists and now hosts concerts.
San Vidal has Palladian-Baroque style facade (1706-1714) designed by Andrea Tirali, and paid for by Doge Carlo Contarini. On the facade you can see busts of Doge Contarini, his wife and Teodoro Tessari - the parish priest whose efforts lead to the rebuilding. Church is a single nave structure with side altars. Deconsecrated and formerly used as an art gallery, the church has the stripped-bare look that churches acquire when cleaned out for the purposes of concerts and the selling of CDs...