Chiesa delle Vergini, Former church building in Venice, Italy
The Chiesa delle Vergini, also known as Santa Maria delle Vergini, was a Romanesque-Byzantine church in the Castello district of Venice, divided into three naves. The apses faced a canal, and the entire complex was enclosed within walls, with access only by a small bridge.
The church is first mentioned in a document from 1226, when it was already part of a convent complex under the protection of the doge. Between 1844 and 1869, both the church and the monastery were demolished to allow the expansion of the nearby Arsenale.
The name "delle Vergini" refers to the nuns from noble Venetian families who lived in the attached convent. The election of a new abbess was a public celebration attended by the city's leaders.
The church no longer exists, as it was torn down in the 19th century, and the area is now part of the Arsenale complex. Those interested in its history can find some of its original artworks in the Museo Correr.
The altars were redesigned in the 1670s with the involvement of architect Baldassarre Longhena, shortly before the church was later repurposed as a prison during the French occupation of Venice. These two chapters sit in sharp contrast within the same walls.
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