Santi Giovanni e Paolo (San Zanipolo)
Venice buried twenty-five of its doges here — step inside the Republic's stone hall of power.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Venice offline.
Built by Dominicans from 1333 and finished in 1430, this vast Gothic brick church became the state funeral venue for every doge after the 15th century. The interior is dense with carved tombs by the Lombardo workshop, a Giovanni Bellini altarpiece, and a miraculous Byzantine devotional image. Verrocchio's 1483 bronze equestrian statue of mercenary captain Bartolomeo Colleoni stands in the campo immediately outside.
What to look for
- Giovanni Bellini's Saint Vincent Ferrer Altarpiece in the south aisle
- Verrocchio's equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni (1483) in the square outside
- The Madonna della Pace, a Byzantine image with its own chapel in the south aisle
A working parish church in the Castello sestiere — check for mass times before visiting, as services close the interior to tourists.
Santi Giovanni e Paolo (San Zanipolo) is one of 38 sights worth the detour in Venice, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Venice pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Venice
- St Mark's BasilicaThe Doge's private chapel turned war-trophy hall — every marble slab and bronze horse was taken from somewhere else.
- Doge's PalaceGovernment offices, a jail, and the Doge's private rooms — all under one Venetian Gothic roof on the lagoon edge.
- Grand CanalVenice's main street is water — a 3.8 km reverse-S where noble families spent fortunes trying to outshine each other in stone and marble.
- Piazza San MarcoNapoleon called it "the drawing room of Europe" — then stripped it of its four horses and shipped them to Paris.
- Rialto BridgePredicted to collapse before it opened, this single-span stone arch has carried Venice's Grand Canal traffic since 1591.
- Bridge of SighsLord Byron named it in the 19th century — condemned men crossing in 1600 took their last look at Venice through stone-barred windows before the cells closed behind them.