The church of Sant'Alvise is a religious building in the city of Venice, located in the Cannaregio district, overlooking the homonymous field. The church is part of the Chorus Venezia association.
The church, dedicated to San Ludovico da Tolosa, known in Venice as
Sant'Alvise, was built in 1383 by the noblewoman Antonia Venier,
together with the adjoining monastery, at the point suggested to her by
the Saint himself who appeared to her in a dream. The same woman retired
to the monastery, following the Augustinian rule; in 1411 other
Augustinian nuns who fled from Serravalle for the war were welcomed.
It underwent a major renovation in the 17th century, which largely
changed its interior.
Built in simple Gothic modules, with a basilica plan.
The
facade is very simple, you can see six slightly protruding pilasters,
connected by ogival arches that follow the entire crowning.
The
Istrian stone portal is enriched by a statue of the saint in Greek
marble, attributed to Bartolomeo Bon.
Statues, altars and seventeenth-century marble decorate the walls.
The large flat ceiling fresco by Piero Antonio Torri and Pietro Ricchi
in the years following 1674 is noteworthy.
This church is made
even more beautiful by the presence of the barco, the typical hanging
choir, supported by two filiform columns and Gothic barbicans. Another
very beautiful aspect are the wrought iron grates behind which the nuns
hid.
Below, to the left of the barque, there are eight tablets
depicting biblical episodes, attributed to Lazzaro Bastiani.
The
most prestigious works of the church are three paintings by Giambattista
Tiepolo executed between 1737 and 1740: Crowning with Thorns and
Flagellation on the right aisle and Ascent of Mount Calvary on a wall of
the presbytery. Also beautiful, placed in front of this last picture, is
the painting by Angelo Trevisani Oration of Christ.
On the
eighteenth-century polychrome marble altar on the left wall there are
three statues attributed to Giovanni Maria Morlaiter.
The bell
tower has kept its original 14th century Gothic appearance. It is
presented in terracotta with a pine cone-shaped cusp and spiers at the
corners.
The nunnery on the right side was originally made up of
two cloisters, of which only one now remains intact, and a portico with
Gothic-style columns and round arches. In modern times the convent has
been occupied by the Daughters of Charity.