Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(
www.chorusvenezia.org
;
Campo San Giacomo dell'Orio 1457, Santa Croce; admission €3, or with Chorus Pass;
10am-5pm Mon-Sat; Riva de Biasio)
La Serenissima seems serene as ever inside the cool
gloom of this Romanesque church, founded in the 9th to 10th centuries and completed in
Latin-cross form by 1225 with chapels bubbling along the edges. Notable 14th- to 18th-
century artworks include luminous
sacristy paintings
by Palma Il Giovane, a rare Lorenzo
Lotto
Madonna with Child and Saints
, and an exceptional Veronese crucifix (currently
undergoing restoration).
Don't miss Gaetano Zompini's macabre
Miracle of the Virgin
, which shows a rabble-
rouser rudely interrupting the Virgin's funeral procession, only to have his hands miracu-
lously fall off when he touches her coffin. Architectural quirks include decorative pillars,
a 14th-century
carena di nave (ship's keel) ceiling
and a Lombard pulpit perched atop a 6th-cen-
tury Byzantine green-marble column.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
TOUR THE ULTIMATE WALK-IN CLOSET
Fashion alert: by popular demand, Palazzo Mocenigo (
Click here
) now opens its secret attic storeroom the last
Friday of every month for fascinating tours through fashion history. Costume historians lead up to 15 people into
the ultimate walk-in closet, and open cupboards to reveal 1700s cleavage-revealing, nude-coloured silk gowns,
men's 1600s embroidered peacock frock-coats with exaggerated hips, and other daring fashions too delicate for
permanent display. Reserve ahead for 11am and 2pm tours in Italian and English (
041 270 03 70; admission
€12).
CHIESA DI SAN GIOVANNI ELEMOSINARIO
MAP
CHURCH
GOOGLE MAP
( Ruga Vecchia di San Giovanni 477, San Polo; admission €3, or with Chorus Pass; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm
Sun; Rialto-Mercato)
Hunkering modestly behind skimpy T-shirt kiosks is this soaring
Renaissance brick church, built by Scarpagnino after a disastrous fire in 1514 destroyed
much of the Rialto area. Cross the darkened threshhold to witness flashes of Renaissance
genius: Titian's tender
St John the Almsgiver
(freshly restored and returned from the Ac-
cademia) and gloriously restored dome frescoes of frolicking angels by Pordenone.
IL GOBBO
( Rialto-Mercato)
Rubbed for luck for centuries, the 1541 statue
Il Gobbo
(The Hunch-
back) is now protected by an iron railing.
Il Gobbo
served as a podium for official pro-
clamations and punishments: those guilty of misdemeanours were forced to run a gauntlet
MONUMENT
