Miracoli Church

In the south east of Cannaregio district close to Saint John and Paul square is the Miracoli church (Miracle Church), a small and isolated church which is a true gem of the Renaissance. A building outstanding in its beauty, it was built between 1481 and 1489 by Pietro Lombardo, and has an elegant facade clad in various kind of marbles. It is said that this church was built with the stone left over after the building of the Basilica of San Marco. The minute details of the facade are decorated with bas-reliefs of animal figures and flowers, and the whole is crowned by a semicircular pediment.

The interior of the church has a certain atmosphere of refined elegance, rich in polychrome marbles and decorated with many busts of saints. The balustrade is finely decorated with sculpture by Tullio Lombardo. The church take its name from the image of the Madonna located on the altar; the image was considered “miraculous” and was the reason this splendid building was first erected.