Scuola Grande di San Marco, Renaissance guildhall at Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Italy.
Scuola Grande di San Marco is a Renaissance guildhall located at Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, featuring a striking white marble facade. The exterior displays elaborate ornaments, niches, pilasters, and trompe-l'œil arches that showcase classical Renaissance design principles.
A fire destroyed the original building in 1485, prompting an ambitious rebuilding campaign that lasted about two decades. Architects Pietro Lombardo, Giovanni Buora, and Mauro Codussi oversaw the reconstruction, funded by confraternity members.
The building displays Venetian craftsmanship through the Sala Capitolare with coats of arms and works by master artists. The spaces reflect how a religious confraternity gathered here to support its members and the broader community.
The building now serves as the entrance to Venice Public Hospital and houses a Museum of Surgical Instruments. Visitors can explore medical equipment and learn about the history of medical care documented over centuries.
Several members of this confraternity were explorers and travelers who documented their adventures and observations. Figures such as Ambrogio Contarini, Giosafat Barbaro, and Alvise da Mosto contributed to early geographical and cultural records of their journeys.
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