Santa Maria Assunta in Cielo, Santa Maria Celeste or Santa Maria della Celestia was a Roman Catholic 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 ...

, facing the Campo de la Celestia in the Castello district, just east of San Francesco della Vigna. It was dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.

History

It was founded in

1119 Year 1119 (Roman numerals, MCXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Levant * June 28 – Battle of Ager Sanguinis: The Crusader army of the Princ ...

by the

Celsi The House of Celsi was a patrician family in Venice. Its most notable members were doge Lorenzo Celsi and soldier Bartolomeo Celsi. Traditionally held to have originated in Ravenna, the family is first documented in 1122 with Vitale Celsi's ment ...

and completed in

1239 Year 1239 ( MCCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – A German expeditionary force under Emperor Frederick II invades the R ...

during Jacopo Tiepolo's term as doge. In 1237 it was annexed by a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

nunnery that had moved from Piacenza to Venice, a cell of the

Abbey of Chiaravalle della Colomba The Abbey of Chiaravalle della Colomba (Italian: ''Abbazia di Chiaravalle della Colomba'') is a 12th-century Cistercian monastic complex near the town of Alseno, in the Province of Piacenza, Region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. History The founding ...

. Its nuns soon became known for immorality and were repeatedly (but in vain) reprimanded by the church authorities. Early in the 16th century they moved under the jurisdiction of the

Diocese of Castello The Diocese of Castello, originally the Diocese of Olivolo, is a former Roman Catholic diocese that was based on the city of Venice in Italy. It was established in 774, covering the islands that are now occupied by Venice. Throughout its existen ...

. In 1569 a fire broke out in the nearby

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, damaging the church. In 1581 work began on a rebuild to designs by Vincenzo Scamozzi inspired by Rome's Pantheon. However, the architect and the nuns fell out and the project ground to a halt. In 1606 the church was razed again and rebuilt on a Latin cross plan with three side chapels and three front chapels before being reconsecrated in 1611. It housed artworks by Andrea Vicentino,

Jacopo Palma il Giovane Iacopo Negretti (1548/50 – 14 October 1628), best known as Jacopo or Giacomo Palma il Giovane or simply Palma Giovane ("Young Palma"), was an Italian painter from Venice and a notable exponent of the Venetian school. After Tintoretto's death ...

Antonio Foler Antonio Foler (1536-1616) was an Italian painter active mainly in Venice, painting sacred subjects in a late-Renaissance or Mannerist style. Follero, Egie Biography He painted a ''San Stefano'' for the church of Santo Stefano, Venice The Chiesa ...

and Domenico Chiesa and the tombs of the humanist Trifone Gabriel, admiral

Carlo Zeno Carlo Zeno (or Zen) (1333 – 8 March 1418) was an Italian admiral from Venice, who is considered a hero of the War of Chioggia against the Republic of Genoa. Early life Destined for an ecclesiastical career, Zeno studied at Padua, but dedicat ...

and doge Lorenzo Celsi. Marcello Brusegan, ''Guida insolita ai misteri, ai segreti, alle leggende e alle curiosità delle chiese di Venezia'', Newton Compton, 2004, pp. 372-373, . The complex was suppressed in 1810 under the Napoleonic regime and transferred to the navy, with the church later demolished and its tombs' remains dispersed at the ossuary of Sant'Ariano. Designed by Andrea Palladio in 1571, the nunnery's cloister survives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria della Celestia Roman Catholic churches in Venice Destroyed churches in Venice Churches in Castello, Venice