Church of Spirito Santo

The Church of Spirito Santo (Church of the Holy Spirit) is a church located on the Zattere promenade, in the sestiere of Dorsoduro, in Venice.

SHORT HISTORY

In 1483, the monastery of the Augustinian nuns of the Holy Spirit was founded on this place, with a church enclosed within its walls. From the beginning, the monastery distinguished itself by scandals caused by the nuns, documented by the archives of the time.

In the first decades of the 16th century, when the foundations of the Zattere were settled on the Giudecca Canal, the monastery was restructured in a radical way. The old church was demolished to make room for the cloister and, in 1506, the construction of the current church began, with the facade oriented towards the Giudecca Canal.

At the same time, near the church, separated from it by the Calle Larga della Chiesa, the building of the School of the Holy Spirit was also started.

ARCHITECTURE

The facade of the church has a poorly proportioned structure: the portal and the two side windows on the ground floor apparently denote an initial project focused more on the width of the building than on its height, while the second row of windows and the roof structure, due to their reduced proportions, seem as they were hastily completed.

The internal structure, very simple, has a single nave and the altars, dating back to the 17th century. The high altar is decorated on the sides by a pair of spiral columns, on the typical Baroque style. Some Baroque paintings also decorate the interior.

The internal part of the facade is almost entirely occupied by the funerary monument of the Paruta family.

HOW TO GET THERE

The closest waterbus stop is Santo Spirito, located a few meters away, on the waterbus Line 6. To get to the church on foot, use the map below.