Santi Giovanni e Paolo - Venice, Italy - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

One of the largest churches in the city, San Zanipolo 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.

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.

Consacrated in the 1st half of the 15thC, Santi Giovanni e Paolo's Basilica 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.

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.

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.

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