Campo San Giacomo dall’Orio Square

Campo San Giacomo dall’Orio, everyday Santa Croce

The Campo San Giacomo dall’Orio is one of the most pleasant and lively spaces in Santa Croce. Away from the main flows connecting the station, Rialto and San Marco, it retains a genuine function as a neighbourhood square. 

The campo is organized around the church of San Giacomo dall’Orio, one of the oldest in Venice, whose origins probably date back to the 9th-10th centuries. Almost isolated in the middle of the open space, it is surrounded by houses, cafés, small shops, trees and benches that give the place an unusually airy appearance for the historic center.

An old lagoon area turned into a neighbourhood

The shape of the campo is also the result of a long urban transformation. In the Middle Ages, San Giacomo was the main church of the old district called Luprio, in a part of Venice still marked by water, wetlands and spaces progressively reclaimed from the lagoon. Historical research indicates that the church was surrounded by land that was gradually integrated into the urban fabric and contributed to forming the campo.

This origin partly explains its irregular layout, very different from a square designed in a single stroke. The surrounding network of calli, small bridges and rii also bears the trace of a district shaped gradually around the old parish.

For visiting, the Campo San Giacomo dall’Orio is thus an excellent base for discovering Santa Croce. One can naturally visit the church, then continue towards San Zan Degolà, the Fontego dei Turchi and the small streets of the area. More than a monument per se, the campo above all allows you to observe another Venice: that of an inhabited district that continues to function around its old parish square.

Sources and further information

Venezia Unica – Santa Croce ; Comune di Venezia – Festa di Beneficenza di San Giacomo dall’Orio ; Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia – San Giacomo dall’Orio, historical research ; Chorus Venezia – Church of San Giacomo dall’Orio.