The church of San Martino is a religious building in the city of Venice, located in the Castello district, not far from the Venice Arsenal.
The origins of the church of San Martino are uncertain, but its
foundation can be placed in the mid-eighth century in what was formerly
called the Gemini Islands. The dedication to San Martino di Tours
suggests the presence of a colony of Longobards, particularly devoted to
him, or to fugitives from Ravenna, in reference to the patron saint of
one of their basilicas.
Tradition, on the other hand, fixes its
erection at the end of the 6th century, or otherwise at the 7th, and
attributes its reconstruction to the Vallaresso and Salonigo families.
The chronicles say that the building was completed in 932 and
consecrated in June of the same year.
It can be assumed that the
church, at the head of a compact community and at the center of an area
of ancient urbanisation, had the prerogatives of a parish from the
earliest times. However, there are certain references in this sense only
starting from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when it was
officiated by a parish priest and various other religious (three
priests, a deacon, a subdeacon and two or four clerics). The composition
of the chapter was subsequently changed and then reduced to just the
parish priest, supported by a sacristan.
If originally San
Martino was affiliated to San Pietro di Castello and his diocese, in
1200 Pope Innocent III gave it to the patriarchate of Grado, associating
it with the church of San Silvestro. This event was at the origin of
claims and jurisdictional disputes with the castle bishop, resolved only
in 1451 with the suppression of the two episcopates and the creation of
a single patriarchate of Venice.
During the Napoleonic
suppressions, the parish of San Martino was maintained (but lost the
title of collegiate church) and expanded its boundaries, incorporating
San Biagio and part of Santa Ternita, but lost some territories in favor
of San Giovanni in Bragora. The institution is still active and is part
of the vicariate of San Marco-Castello.
The forms of the original building remain unknown, as the church
has undergone various restorations over time. A first rebuilding was
built between the 9th and 10th centuries, when it took on the
Venetian-Byzantine style, typical of places of worship of the time.
The current building dates back to the sixteenth century,
designed by Jacopo Sansovino. The architect rotated the entire
structure ninety degrees and gave it a square plan, adding two
chapels to each side and the vaulted chancel. The latter was then
frescoed by Domenico Bruni, with architectural perspectives that
connect to a later Glory of San Martino by Jacopo Guarana.
Inside the church, the parapet of the organ, the work of Nacchini
and restored by Callido, adorned with the Supper of Christ by
Gerolamo Santacroce (1549), should be mentioned above all. On the
first altar on the right is the altarpiece Santa Cecilia and San
Lorenzo Giustiniani by Giovanni Segala.
In the center of the
right wall stands the funeral monument to Doge Francesco Erizzo,
designed by Mattia Carnero (1633). The next altar, going towards the
presbytery, bears the canvas Holy Family with San Marco and the
bishop Foca by Giovanni Laudis. On the third altar is the Our Lady
of Sorrows by Palma il Giovane, flanked by Three angels bearing the
symbols of the Passion and Deposition of Christ by the same author.
The presbytery houses two frescoes by Fabio Canal: the Sacrifice
of Abraham and the Sacrifice of Melchizedek. The high altar, with
the marble tabernacle, is isolated from the rest of the structure;
behind it is a small choir with the paintings Christ Flaggelled and
Christ led to Calvary.
Passing to the right wall and
proceeding towards the portal, one first notices an
eighteenth-century painting with Sant'Agata, Santa Lucia and
Sant'Orsola, then the pulpit by Sebastiano Messenali (1752) and the
small altar by Tullio Lombardo, now used as a baptistery and from
the demolished church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is followed by a
canvas by Gerolamo Santacroce, the risen Christ and then, on the
wall to the left of the entrance, a canvas by Matteo Ponzone with
San Giovanni in the act of writing the apocalypse.
In the
sacristy there is a painting by Antonio Zanchi: The Virgin in Glory
and Saints Joseph and Anthony of Padua.
Adjacent to the
church is the oratory of the Scuola di San Martino, a reference for
the caulkers of the Arsenale. Above the entrance is a 15th century
bas-relief depicting San Martino giving his cloak to the poor.
The veneration for San Martino di Tours was deeply felt in Venice,
thanks to the presence in the church of the precious tibia of the saint.
Here a solemn procession ended, which started from the Scuola Grande di
San Giovanni Evangelista, or from the other end of Venice.
Even
today, on the occasion of the feast of San Martino (November 11),
children go around the streets of the city singing nursery rhymes in
front of houses and shops, hoping to receive candies, sweets or a small
tip. Another tradition still in use is the consumption of San Martino, a
sweet pastry or quince jelly, decorated with sugared almonds, sweets or
something else which, inspired by a bas-relief, reproduces the
silhouette of the saint on horseback.