Santa Maria di Nazareth in Venice, also called Scalzi Church, in front of the Scalzi Bridge and very close to the Venice Santa Lucia train station, is the church of the Discalced Carmelites.
Located in the Sestiere of Cannaregio, the Scalzi Church was designed in 1660 by Baldassare Longhena. However, its grandiose baroque façade was built later, between 1672 and 1680, by the Swiss-born baroque architect Giuseppe Sardi. Consecrated in 1705, it underwent an important restoration between 1853 and 1862 during Austrian domination.
The Church of the Scalzi was hit by a bomb during the First World War that destroyed the vault with frescoes by Giambattista Tiepolo. Today only a few fragments are preserved in the Accademia Gallery. The Correr Museum preserves a copy by Mariano Fortuny of Tiepolo's fresco. In 1934 a new roof was built and embellished with a fresco by Ettore Tito.
What to visit in the Scalzi Church
Facade of the Scalzi Church
The façade, in late Venetian baroque style, is divided into two orders and dotted with paired columns. On the pediment, the Virgin with Child and Saint Catherine of Siena in the niche on the left. The empty right niche was occupied by a statue of Saint Thomas Aquino.
Interior of the Scalzi Church
The interior of the church, with its colorful and sumptuous Corinthian marbles, gives the visitor a feeling of opulence. The most important thing about the Scalzi Church is:
- The buttress with the organ and the fresco of Sante Teresa crowned by the Savior, work of the Venetian painter Gregorio Lazzarini (1655 – 1730)
- The pulpit with reliefs representing the four evangelists.
- On the main altar, work of friar Giuseppe Pozzo, with its twisted columns, the statue of the Virgin with cherubs and prophets stands out, coming from the island of Santa María de Nazareth, later Lazzaretto.
- The statues of the twelve Sibyls on the side walls of the presbytery.
- Giovanelli Chapel with a rich 17th century altar and statue of Saint John of the Cross (one of the founders of the Order of Discalced Carmelites).
- Ruzzini Chapel, in whose vault there is a fresco of the Apotheosis of Saint Teresa by Giambattista Tiepolo.
- In the vault of the Lumaca Chapel, or of the Crucifix, fresco Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, work of Giambattista Tiepolo.
- Moro Chapel, built by Baldassare Longhena, which presents a statue of Saint John the Baptist in Carrara marble.
- Manin Chapel, where the last Doge of Venice, Ludovico Manin, who died in 1802, is buried. The two blue glass chandeliers are made of Murano glass.
- Venier Chapel, built by the abbot Sebastiano Venier who is buried there (1664). The altarpiece shows a statue of Saint Sebastian.
- Burial of Doge Carlo Ruzzini, who died in 1735, in the chapel of Santa Teresa.
Santa Maria di Nazareth Map