The Church of Sant'Alvise

The church, built in 1383, was dedicated to Saint Ludovico da Tolosa (known in Venice as Saint Alvise).

The church, along with the monastery, was ordered by Antonia Venier, a noble woman of that time that retired herself in the monastery following the Augustinian belief. It was restored in the XVII century, with particular care to its interior part, almost completely remodeled. The bell tower, built in the XIII Century, was left untouched.

The Church is in gothic style and its plan recalls the shape of a Basilica. The façade is very simple and characterized by a big doorway made of Istria stone on whose top stand a statue of Saint Alvise made in 1400.

What makes this church so unique is the presence of a “Barco” (a suspended choir) supported by two thin columns, decorated with wrought iron grates behind which the nuns hid themselves.

The most prestigious operas within the church are three paintings by Giambattista Tiepolo made between 1737 and 1740: the Crown of Thorns and the Flagellation on the right nave and the mount Calvary Ascension on a wall of the presbytery.

The monastery now belongs to the Figlie della Carità (Charity's Daughters). It was originally composed by two Cloisters (today only one survives) and a portico with gothic columns and round arches