Murano: Santi Maria e Donato

Open: 8-19. Map.

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The church of Santi Maria e Donato was founded in the 7th or 8th century when it was dedicated to the Vergine Maria Madre di Dio. It was only in 1125, when the relics of San Donato (Saint Donatus) were brought back to Murano from the Greek island of Cephalonia, that it was decided to rebuild the church. The rebuilding was finished in 1141 and the church rededicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint Donatus (whose relics can be seen on the high altar).
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The exterior of the church is brick and the most prominent feature is the east end with its superimposed colonnades of decorative brickwork. The arches are supported by paired stone columns. 

The plain façade bears a 14th century marble relief of St Donatus and a follower. The two decorated bas-reliefs, which flank the portal, are ancient Roman in origin and date back to the 2nd century AD.

The interior of the church is made up a nave, two aisles, two transepts (all roofed in timber) and a chancel. 

​The chancel ends in an apse, which is decorated with a mosaic of the Madonna (late 12th century/early 13th century), her hands raised and open in prayer. The Greek lettering (MΡ ΘΥ), which flanks her head, proclaims her as the Mother of God. Under the mosaic are frescoes (c. 1404) of the four evangelists by Niccolo di Pietro. 

The body of San Donato is encased in a sarcophagus on the high altar. The polyptych (mid 14th century) at the base of the altar is by Paolo Veneziano. The central panel depicts the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, while to the sides are depictions of various saints.  

The two marble statues are (on the left) San Lorenzo Giustinian, the first patriarch of Venice and San Eliodoro, the first bishop of Altino. The first statue is the work of Francesco Penso, while the second has been attributed to Pietro Baratta. 

To the right of the apse stands a square baptismal font, which was originally an ancient Roman funerary urn. The urn (2nd century AD) came from Altino and belonged to a Roman councillor by the name of Lucus Acilius. 

The mosaics in the pavement (dated 1140) take two forms: opus tessellatum for the figurative shapes and opus sectile for the geometric forms. Look out for the image of two yoked cocks carrying a fox. 

The free-standing campanile dates back to the 12th century. 
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Santi Maria e Donato

Santi Maria e Donato

Apse

High Altar