The Palladian church in the old island of Castello, overlooks the grassed broad square with its monumental façade and isolated bell tower, as it was in the past when the Church of San Pietro was Venice cathedral.
The current forms of the temple is the work of Francesco Smeraldi based on the original designs by Andrea Palladio in 1556. The imposing bell-tower in Istrian stone is an elegant Renaissance structure designed by Mauro Codussi (1482-1490). The internal part of the cathedral has a Latin-cross form, divided by three naves and surmounted by a massive dome. The leading decoration is from the seventeenth-century, realized after the fire that destroyed the furniture and treasure of the old church.
Noteworthy is also the high altar of inlaid polychrome marbles designed in 1649 by Baldassare Longhena containing an urn with the remains of the first patriarch of Venice, Saint Lorenzo Giustiniani, and a fragment of a Roman mosaic,as proofof of the history of this church.
On the right nave is placed the so-called Cathedral of San Pietro.
In its interior, many painting such as Il castigo dei serpenti by Pietro Liberi (1660), la Madonna col bambino e anime purganti by Luca Giordano (1650).
Useful information
Address: Castello 70 Campo San Pietro cap 30122 - Venezia
Opening times: Monday to Saturday: 10.00-17.00, closed on Sundays
Dec. 24th 10.00-13.30, Dec. 31st 10.00-13.30
Jan. 6th 13.00 - 17.00
Dec.25th, Jan. 1st, Eastern, Aug. 15th closed.
Price: € 2.50 per person
Contacts:
Phone: +39 041 2750462
Email: http://info@chorusvenezia.org
Website: http://www.chorusvenezia.org
How to get there: ferry boat stop "S. Pietro in Castello"
