Sant' Alvise

This church, tucked away in the open outer reaches of northern Cannaregio, is a prime candidate for the title of ‘loneliest church in Venice’. But it's far from the least interesting.

When this land was reclaimed in the 14th century, a doge’s daughter named Antonia Vernier had a vision of St Louis of Toulouse and founded a monastery in his name (Aloisius in Latin, hence Alvise in Venetian). Its brick Gothic façade of 1388 is so severe it hurts: ‘OW!’ says its peephole rose window and doorway.

Behind it stands an equally severe little campanile; yet seen in the evening light Sant’Alvise takes on a rare beauty in its un-Venetian simplicity.