The church of San Samuele is a religious building in Venice located in the San Marco district.
The church was built around the year 1000 by the Boldù and Soranzo
families. At the beginning of the XII century it was destroyed by two
successive fires and rebuilt. It was almost completely restructured in
1685. Outside you can see the structure of the portico, now closed, on
top of which, in 1952, a loggia was created.
It takes its name
from the biblical character Samuel because, according to tradition, his
relics are kept inside. According to Martinelli, it would also host a
hand of Saint Valentine, patron saint of lovers, whose relics are
scattered in numerous crypts and churches in Italy.
The church overlooks the campo of the same name, one of the few that
have a direct outlet on the Grand Canal, next to Palazzo Grassi and
Palazzo Malipiero.
Inside, on the high altar, there is a
fourteenth-century crucifix attributed to Paolo Veneziano.
The
complex is completed by a Venetian-Byzantine bell tower dating back to
the 12th century.