The former church of San Gregorio is a deconsecrated religious
building in Venice, located in the Dorsoduro district.
It
overlooks the campo of the same name, a few steps from the basilica of
Santa Maria della Salute (which stands a little further east, beyond the
Rio della Salute).
Built, it seems, at the beginning of the 9th century, in 989 it was
submitted to the Benedictines of the abbey of Sant'Ilario. Due to the
decline of the latter, in the following years there was a progressive
transfer of the monks to San Gregorio, which culminated in 1214, when
the building became the main seat of the community.
At the same
time, the church exercised the functions of parish church, attested in a
document of 1164, with priests appointed by the monks. It was originally
affiliated to the church of Santa Maria Zobenigo, so the parish priest
had the obligation to go to the matrix on Holy Saturday to attend the
blessing of the baptismal font, receiving its holy water.
Reduced
to a commendam in 1450, the abbey went through a long period of decline,
both economically and spiritually, which ended with the suppression of
the monastery in 1775. The church maintained its role as a parish for a
short time, but was closed for worship in 1808, under Napoleon, and its
jurisdiction passed to Santa Maria del Rosario (vulgo Gesuati).
While the buildings of the monastery were used as homes, the church was
occupied by a workshop of the Mint for refining gold. After the
restoration of the years 1959-60, it was used as a restoration
laboratory of the Superintendency for the artistic and historical
heritage of Venice. Today it has been in disuse for some time.
In
2017, work began to adapt the church to the new headquarters of the
Museum of Oriental Art.
The current building is the result of the fifteenth-century
reconstruction by Antonio Cremonese, who replaced the previous
Venetian-Byzantine style with Gothic.
The gabled facade is
tripartite by four pilasters. In the center are the portal, enclosed by
an elegant rosette frame, and, just above, the large rose window. The
solidity of the exposed bricks is lightened by two overlapping mullioned
windows on each side.
Inside, with a single nave, there are still
remains of frescoes. The three apses with trussed ceilings are
interesting.