Church of San Giovanni in Bragora

Located at the southern end of the area of Rivo Alto called “Gemino,” the church is said to have been founded in antiquity by Saint Magnus (8th century). The arrival of relics of Saint John the Baptist in the 10th century and those of Saint John the Almsgiver in the 13th encouraged further development of the site. In the Renaissance, the church was rebuilt, affecting also its relationship to the campo (i.e. piazza). Prominent figures in this transformation included Pope Paul II Barbo, the future doge Andrea Gritti, the painters Cima da Conegliano and Alvise Vivarini, and the sculptor Alessandro Vittoria. In this period the church also became ever more connected to the area’s economic activities, thanks to the presence of confraternities such as the ropemakers and sand merchants; the campo, in the meantime, became a space for festivals, theatrical performances and, later, for popular games. Also noteworthy was the presence of foreign communities in the area, such as Greeks, Slavs, Friulians, the Knights of Malta, and Florentines. Church and campo were thus representative of the urban fabric of Venice, in which the local and the international were inseparable. In the 18th century, the church and parish were marked by the activity of Antonio Vivaldi, followed by the playwright Giacinto Gallina in the 19th. Densely populated, the area remained a lively neighborhood until the second world war and the closing of the Arsenal. In this period the church also underwent a number of important restorations.