Entering the peaceful campo san Giovanni in Bragora, we see the simple gothic church where Antonio Vivaldi was baptised, the red-haired composer who taught music to orphan girls in a nearby School and produced wonderful music, such as the Four Season violin concertos.
On the topic of baptism, the church is in fact dedicated to St. Giovanni Battista, the lone hermit who baptised Jesus Christ. However, it holds the body of another Giovanni, San Giovanni Elemosinario, the Charitable, even though there is actually a church dedicated to this very saint near the Rialto bridge. As the story goes, back in 1249, a ship with the saint’s remains was heading towards the Rialto as planned, but suddenly it stopped not far off this campo where we are now. As if under a spell, no one could get the vessel to move, until the priest from the Bragora church came on board, and managed to dock it closeby. The convoy of people proceeded with the body on foot to the Rialto, but a terrible storm out of nowhere forced them to take refuge in this very church. Once inside, it proved impossible to move the body of San Giovanni Elemosinario outside, and so it was decided it should stay here, where it has lain for the last 800 years.
