Sant'Alvise

Open: Mon-Sat: 10-17. €3. 
Map. 

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Tucked away in a distant corner of the city, the church of Sant'Alvise was founded in 1388 by the noblewoman Antonia Venier, who established a house of Augustinian nuns and took holy orders herself. 

​The church is dedicated to Saint Louis (Alvise in Venetian) of Toulouse, who had, allegedly, appeared to Antonia in a dream. There is an early 15th century Tuscan statue of the saint above the entrance to the church. 

The church was rebuilt in 1430 and its interior was much altered two centuries later. The barco (choir gallery) survives from the 15th century, while the trompe l'oeil ceiling fresco was painted in the 1670s by Antonio Torri and Pietro Ricchi. Giambattista Tiepolo painted the three panels of the Passion in the late 1730s.
 
The 15th century campanile survives as do most of the monastic buildings, which are laid out around a small courtyard and two cloisters. The north cloister dates back to the original foundation of the church. 

Sant' Alvise

Barco, Sant' Alvise

Ceiling of Sant' Alvise