The church of San Francesco di Paola is a religious building in Venice, located in the Castello district. It overlooks Via Garibaldi.
The church overlooks Via Garibaldi, a very recent road in Venice,
born from the silting up of the Castello stream in the 19th century.
This river connected the San Marco basin to the Castello canal.
In 1291 the bishop of Castello Bartolomeo I Querini bequeathed the
construction of a hospital for the elderly which was erected along the
left side of the Rio di Castello, and next to this hospital an oratory
dedicated to San Bartolomeo was built.
In the second half of the
fourteenth century, a church dedicated to San Bartolomeo was also built
in this area.
In 1588 both the hospice and the church were by
then unstable in structure, so they were entrusted to the Order of
Minims of San Francesco di Paola, who completely restructured the
church, reintitling it to San Francesco di Paola. And next to it a
monastery, which was then suppressed in 1806 and demolished in 1885. In
its place now stands an elementary school.
The church has a classical-style façade with two orders, with a
triangular tympanum, portal and windows collected in the central
interspace, underlined at the same level by the corners by slightly
raised pilasters concluded by Corinthian capitals.
A clock is
drawn on the facade which marks the time of the saint's death.
The motto of the Order is carved on the pediment of the main door:
CHARITAS in the center of a flaming Sun.
Until 1810, from the
narrow foundations it overlooked the Rio di San Domenico or di Castello
and faced the bridge of the same name.
The interior has a single
nave, although it was remodeled in the eighteenth century, it largely
maintains the original features. It is 39 m long and 18 m wide.
A
reason of interest is the barco, which leans against the internal front
of the facade and extends along the side walls with two arms, in the
depths of which the side chapels are obtained, three on each side.
There are 11 altars, one of which is occupied by the baptistery,
where there are numerous paintings depicting the life of Saint Francis
of Paola and his prodigious miracles. Among the various representations,
we remember:
The Saint resurrects a child 1748 by G.F. Soliman
Liberation of a possessed person 1748 by Giandomenico Tiepolo
The
Virgin, St. John the Evangelist and donor figures by Jacopo Palma il
Giovane.
St. Francis resurrects Thomas of Ture, his disciple, crushed
by a tree 1746 by Vincenzo Canal
The ceiling of the Church is
entirely painted with works from the end of the sixteenth century
depicting biblical episodes and miracles of the Saint.