Religious, Spiritual sights in Venice
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A
Cattedrale di San Pietro di Castello
Unlikely though it may seem, this sleepy church on the far-flung island of San Pietro was Venice’s cathedral from 1451 to 1807 – not the more attention-seeking and conveniently located Basilica di San Marco, which was the doge’s chapel. But the island of San Pietro (originally known as Olivolo) was among the first to be inhabited in Venice, and the original church here was the seat of a bishopric as early as 775. The present church is an almost-but-not-quite Palladio design. Palladio had been awarded the contract in the 1550s, but the death of the patriarch when the architect was two years into the project led to a project hiatus that lasted beyond the genius’s own …
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B
Campanile
The 30m-tall bell tower has been rebuilt twice since its initial construction in 888, and was long used as the city’s main lighthouse. Critics have called the tower squat and ungainly, but when it suddenly collapsed in 1902, Venetians rebuilt the tower exactly as it was, brick by brick. Entry to the tower leads through the ground-floor Loggetta, a light Renaissance touch by Sansovino and, when the tower is open to the public, a lift whisks visitors to the top for spectacular panoramas over the city. But you may have to admire it from below: due to ongoing stabilisation efforts, the bell tower may be closed on your visit.
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C
Pala d’Oro
Behind the altar at the Basilica di San Marco, the exquisite Pala d'Oro is a gold, enamel and jewel-encrusted altarpiece (measuring 384cm by 212cm) made in Constantinople for Doge Pietro Orseolo I in 976. It was enriched and reworked in Constantinople in 1105, enlarged by Venetian goldsmiths in 1209 and reset in the 14th century. Among the almost 2000 stones that adorn it are 526 pearls, 320 emeralds, rubies, amethysts, sapphires, jasper, topaz and coralline.
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D
Tesoro
The Tesoro, accessible from the right transept at the Basilica di San Marco, contains most of the booty from the 1204 raid on Constantinople, including a thorn said to be from the crown worn by Christ. Some extraordinary 10th- to 11th-century chalices, made of sardonyx, alabaster, glass and silver, figure among the most beautiful pieces, along with some stunning icons and a 14th-century reliquary box that belonged to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
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Mechitarist Monastery
In 1717 the Armenian order of the Mechitarist Fathers (named after the founding father, Mechitar) was granted use of this island, which had been the site of a Benedictine hospice for pilgrims and then served as a leper colony. The Mechitarist monastery became an important centre of learning and repository of Armenian culture, which it remains to this day. The order also runs a hostel in a frescoed former school at Palazzo Zenobio in Dorsoduro.
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