San Giovanni Elemosinario Church Church

San Giovanni Elemosinario, the church hidden in the Rialto market stalls

Completely absorbed by the commercial fabric of the Rialto market, to the point of blending in with the neighboring shops, the church of San Giovanni Elemosinario is dedicated to Saint John the Almsgiver, a 7th-century patriarch of Alexandria famous for his charity. 
Well hidden, it is worth finding and entering: behind an entrance that one can easily miss hides this small Renaissance church combining Scarpagnino's architecture and major works by Titian and Pordenone. It thus provides an interesting complement to a visit to the nearby market and Rialto Bridge.

The church already existed before 1071, but nothing remains of this primitive building: the great Rialto fire of 1514, which destroyed shops and goods in a large part of the district, completely ravaged it.

Its reconstruction was probably entrusted to Antonio Abbondi, known as Scarpagnino, in charge of the reorganization of the Rialto after the disaster. Completed before 1531, the church adopts a Renaissance Greek cross plan inscribed in a square, dominated by a dome. Its almost total insertion into the surrounding buildings would not be accidental: the organization of the new complex made it possible, in particular, to arrange around the church premises rented as shops, providing income for the clergy.

Pordenone also executed the dome frescoes, with the Eternal Father and a glory of angels. A curiosity, on the other hand, concerns the saint to whom the church is dedicated: contrary to what its name might suggest, the body of Saint John the Almsgiver is not preserved here, but in a chapel dedicated to him at the church San Giovanni in Bragora, in the sestiere of Castello.

Visiting tips

The entrance is on the Ruga Rialto and remains inconspicuous amid the shops. According to the hours currently published by Chorus Venezia, visiting is possible Monday to Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sources and further information

Chorus Venezia - San Giovanni Elemosinario ; Chorus Venezia - Chapel of Saint John the Almsgiver at San Giovanni in Bragora.