The history
The San Francesco della Vigna area has a long history: “the Franciscan friars owned the convent since 15th century, firstly just cultivating grapes in the cloister inside the convent. Then this place became a cultural centre because of the big library that the friars had subsequently. Only afterwards was built the beautiful church, whose facade is by Palladio. When in the 19th century, Napoleon came into Italy many changes happened throughout Venice. When the Venetian Republic fell, the Apostolic Nunciature’s presence, which the Franciscan Order referred to, was compromised. The friars lost the monastery and had to move to the other side of the campo, although they still had to preside at all the religious functions, also in the night. Their life became difficult, especially during winter, so the colonnade was built: it was hard for the friars to reach the church from their new place, they needed the raised passage. Every day, for a long period, the Franciscans walked above this colonnade. But a few years after the colonnade’s construction the friars realized that they had made a mistake spending so much money for this passage, going against one of the Order’s key points: “living in absolute poverty”. Fra’ Gabriele told us all this during the interview shown below.
The site
The colonnade is located in the Venetian sestiere of Castello. arriving from San Marco, after a little bridge, you come across its monumental red and white columns. If you want to cross the campo or reach the church you have to walk through it. It’s a spectacular site especially if you have only seen the low buildings typical of Venice, the colonnade seems huge.
The Users
Our users are people who live in Venice and walk through the colonnade everyday too quickly, they don’t know which was is function, the columns are just obstacles. Also the tourists are prossible users because they often don’t notice the uniqueness of this place, they are interested mostly in the church, they just pass by as anyone else.
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