La Maddalena (Italian: ''Santa Maria Maddalena in Cannaregio'', usually referred to simply as ''La Maddalena'') 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 ...

, 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

Cannaregio Cannaregio () is the northernmost of the six historic ''sestieri'' (districts) of Venice. It is the second largest ''sestiere'' by land area and the largest by population, with 13,169 people . Isola di San Michele, the historic cemetery island, ...

. A religious edifice is known in the site as early as 1222, owned by the Balbo patrician family. When, in the mid-14th century, the Venetian Senate established a public holiday for

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...

's feast, it was decided to enlarge the church, including a watchtower which was turned into a bell tower. The church was restored in the early 18th century, but in 1780 it was entirely rebuilt under design by

Tommaso Temanza Tommaso Temanza (9 March 1705 – 14 June 1789) was an Italian architect and author of the Neoclassic period. Born in Venice, he was active both in his natal city and the mainland towns of the Republic of Venice. Biography His family held bure ...

, with a circular plan inspired by the

Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...

in Rome. The bell tower was demolished in 1888. The most notable feature is the portal, with

masonic symbols Masonic ritual is the scripted words and actions that are spoken or performed during the degree work in a Masonic lodge. Masonic symbolism is that which is used to illustrate the principles which Freemasonry espouses. Masonic ritual has appeared ...

over the door (probably connected to the Balbo's membership in the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

). The interior has an hexagonal plan with four side chapels and a presbytery. Outside the apse is a 15th-century basrelief of the ''Madonna with Child''.

References

External links

The Churches of Venice websitewww.venipedia.org wiki page
{{Authority control Roman Catholic churches completed in 1780 Maddalena Maddalena Maddalena Churches completed in 1580 Roman Catholic churches completed in the 1580s Centralized-plan churches in Italy Tommaso Temanza buildings Neoclassical church buildings in Italy