San Giovanni in Bragora is a church in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, located in the ''

sestiere A (plural: ) is a subdivision of certain Italian towns and cities. The word is from (‘sixth’), so it is thus used only for towns divided into six districts. The best-known example is the ''sestieri'' of Venice, but Ascoli Piceno, Genoa, M ...

'' of Castello.

History

It was founded in the early 8th century, allegedly by St. Magnus of

Oderzo Oderzo ( la, Opitergium; vec, Oderso) is a ''comune'' with a population of 20,003 in the province of Treviso, Veneto, northern Italy. It lies in the heart of the Venetian plain, about to the northeast of Venice. Oderzo is crossed by the Montican ...

; in the following century, under doge

Pietro III Candiano Pietro III Candiano was the Doge of Venice from 942 until 959. He was the son of Pietro II Candiano. Life In 948 he led a fleet of 33 galleys to punish the Dalmatian pirates, the Narentines, for repeatedly raiding against Venetian shipping in ...

, it was rebuilt to house the alleged relics of St. John the Baptist, to whom it is entitled, and again in 1178. Pietro Barbo, future

Pope Paul II Pope Paul II ( la, Paulus II; it, Paolo II; 23 February 1417 – 26 July 1471), born Pietro Barbo, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 August 1464 to his death in July 1471. When his maternal uncle Eugene IV ...

, and

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

were baptised in the church. The current appearance dates from the last renovation (1475-1505), which kept the

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

plan but added a brickwork façade in local late-

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style, and a façade divided into three sections. The interior houses works by

Cima da Conegliano Giovanni Battista Cima, also called Cima da Conegliano (c. 1459 – c. 1517), was an Italian Renaissance painter, who mostly worked in Venice. He can be considered part of the Venetian school, though he was also influenced by Antonello da ...

(''

Baptism of Christ The baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist is a major event in the life of Jesus which is described in the three synoptic Gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark and Luke). It is considered to have taken place at Al-Maghtas (also called Beth ...

'', 1492 and ''St. Helena and Constantine at the Cross'', 1501-1503) and

Alvise Vivarini Alvise or Luigi Vivarini (1442/1453–1503/1505) was an Italian painter, the leading Venetian artist before Giovanni Bellini. Like Bellini, he was part of a dynasty of painters. His father was Antonio Vivarini and his uncle, with whom he may ha ...

and has a trussed ceiling. The origin of the term ''Bragora'' is unclear. It could derive from the Greek ''agorà'' (square), referring to the campo facing the church, or from the dialect ''bragora'' ("market") or ''bragolare'' ("fishing"). It could also be from the word ''brago'', meaning mud, on account of the former swampy state of islands of Venice. It is the church where

was baptised in 1678. It is thought his family lived close to the church at the time. Chiesa di San Giovanni in Bragora tympan.jpg, Feature of the tympanum of the door San giovanni in bragora, interno 02.JPG, View of the Nave San Giovanni in Bragora Interno.jpg, The Presbyterium San Giovanni in Bragora - Vivaldi font.jpg, Baptismal font San Giovanni Elemosinario.jpg, Funerary monument of

John the Merciful John the Merciful ( gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Ἐλεήμων, Iōannēs ho Eleēmōn), also known as St John the Almsgiver, John the Almoner, John V of Alexandria, John Eleymon, and Johannes Eleemon, was the Chalcedonian Patriarch of Alexandria in ...

Baptism of Christ by Cima da Conegliano.jpg,

Baptism of Christ Cima da Conegliano, Sant'Elena e Costantino ai lati della Croce, 1501-1503.jpg,

''Sant'Elena e Costantino ai lati della Croce'' Alvise Vivarini, Cristo benedicente.jpg,

, ''Cristo benedicente'' Alvise Vivarini, Cristo risorto, 1497-98.jpg,

, ''Cristo risorto'' Alvise Vivarini, Madonna col Bambino, 1485-90.jpg,

, ''Madonna col Bambino'' Bartolomeo vivarini, madonna col bambino e santi, 1478.JPG,

Bartolomeo Vivarini Bartolomeo or Bartolommeo Vivarini (c. 1432c. 1499) was an Italian Renaissance painter, known to have worked from 1450 to 1499. Biography Bartolomeo's brother Antonio Vivarini, and his nephew (also possibly his pupil) Alvise Vivarini, were als ...

''Madonna col Bambino e Santi''

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giovanni In Bragora Giovanni in Bragora 8th-century establishments in Italy 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Renaissance architecture in Venice