Ubicación
Basilica of St. Giovanni and St. Paolo
Sestiere Castello - Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo
30122 Venezia VE
The Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo
The Basilica of Santi Giovanni and Paolo, otherwise known to the Venetians as San Zanipolo, is located in Sestiere Castello, being one of the biggest and most magnificent churches in town.
The legend tells that Doge Jacopo Tiepolo wished to erect and donate a Basilica to the Dominican order as a result of a mystical vision. Ended in 1430, the imposing gothic building is dedicated to the holy martyrs Giovanni and Paolo. From the thirteenth century, the Basilica becomes Venice’s Pantheon: 25 among doges and distinguished characters of the Serenissima chose it as burial place. Some of the most famous are Sebastiano Venier, winner of the Battle of Lepanto, and Marcantonio Bragadin, who heroically withstanded the Ottoman siege of Famagosta for months.
Numerous famed artists, as Giovanni Bellini, Tiziano, Tintoretto, Palma il Vecchio, Palma il Giovane, Veronese and many others, have contributed through the centuries to embellish the Basilica via their mastery. The Giovanni Bellini’s Polittico of San Vicenzo Ferrer and the Renaissance polychrome stained-glass window boast an outstanding beauty. The last one is a true one of a kind in whole Venice, entirely released in Murano glass on Bartolomeo Vivarini and Cima da Conegliano.
Info and hours:
OPENINGS
The Basilica is open for the tourist visits in the following opening hours:
Weekdays: from 9 am to 6 pm.
Public holidays: from 12 pm to 6 pm.
During Christmas and Easter holidays the Basilica closes from 12.30 pm to 4 pm.
Tourists are required to grant an oblation in order to guarantee the custody service, the lighting and the restoration of the preserved works:
Full ticket: € 3,50
Reduced ticked: € 1,50
Free:
• Residents in the Municipality of Venice
• People with limited mobility and their carers
• Authorized tourist guides
• Teachers at the head of school groups
• Priests, religious men and women, seminarians
• Students and children (under 12)
No Chorus Pass, no Venice Pass.