Basilica di San Pietro di Castello

San Pietro di Castello stands on the historic island of Olivolo in eastern Venice. Long before Saint Mark's became the cathedral, this church was the centre of the city's episcopal and patriarchal life.

Why it matters

The church served the diocese of Castello before becoming the cathedral of the new Patriarchate of Venice in 1451. It retained that role until 1807, preserving a religious history distinct from Saint Mark's earlier function as the doge's church.

What to notice

The façade was executed by Francesco Smeraldi using designs supplied by Andrea Palladio. Mauro Codussi's detached bell tower is faced in Istrian stone. Inside, the domed, Latin-cross church contains the high altar associated with Baldassare Longhena and the shrine of Lorenzo Giustiniani, Venice's first patriarch. The so-called Chair of Saint Peter incorporates an Arabic funerary stele with Quranic inscriptions, bringing a strikingly different object into the cathedral's sacred furnishings.

Context and history

Earlier churches preceded the substantial rebuilding of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The transfer of the patriarchal seat to Saint Mark's in 1807 changed San Pietro's institutional role without removing its architectural and artistic importance.