Santa Giustina

One of the venerable group of Venetian churches founded by St Magno in the 7th century, Santa Giustina was rebuilt in the 1500s by the Soranzo family, and given a new facade in white Istrian stone by Longhena that was completed in the 1640s.

The church and adjacent convent had their greatest moment in the limelight because of a coincidence of dates: St Giustina's feast day, 7 October, just happened to coincide with Venice and christendom's victory over the Ottoman empire in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Beginning the following year, the Doge would make a special trip to attend a thanksgiving Mass.

For all that, the church and convent were among the many suppressed by the Napoleonic regime in 1810; the church now houses the Liceo Scientifico Giambattista Benedetti and its altar has gone to Sant' Aponal.

Practical Info

vaporetto: Celestia