Santi Giovanni e Paolo (1181). The Basilica di San Giovanni e Paolo, known in Venetian as San Zanipolo, is a church in the Castello sestiere of Venice, Italy. One of the largest churches in the city, it has the status of a minor basilica. After the 15th century the funeral services of all of Venice's doges were held here, and twenty-five doges are buried in the church. The huge brick edifice was designed in the Italian Gothic style, and completed in the 1430s. It is the principal Dominican church of Venice, and as such was built to hold large congregations. It is dedicated to John and Paul, not the Biblical Apostles of the same names, but two obscure martyrs of the Early Christian church in Rome, whose names were recorded in the 4th century but whose legend is of a later date. In 1246, Doge Jacopo Tiepolo donated some swampland to the Dominicans after dreaming of a flock of white doves flying over it. The first church was demolished in 1333, when the current church was begun. It was not completed until 1430. The vast interior contains many funerary monuments and paintings, as well as the Madonna della Pace, a miraculous Byzantine statue situated in its own chapel in the south aisle, and a foot of Saint Catherine of Siena, the church's chief relic. San Giovanni e Paolo is a parish church of the Vicariate of San Marco-Castello. Other churches of the parish are San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti, the Ospedaletto and the Beata Vergine Addolorata. The Renaissance Equestrian Statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni, by Andrea del Verrocchio, is located next to the church. The belltower has 3 bells in D major. Giovanni Bellini. Bartolomeo Bon. Cima da Conegliano or Giovanni Martini da Udine. Lorenzo Gramiccia. Piero di Niccolo Lamberti and Giovanni di Martino. Gregorio Lazzarini. Pietro Lombardo. Tullio Lombardo. Lorenzo Lotto. Rocco Marconi. Giuseppe Maria Mazza. Giovanni Battista Piazzetta. Alvise Tagliapietra, reliefs in the Chapel of the Rosary. Veronese. The famous The Feast in the House of Levi, painted for the refectory, is now in the Accademia Gallery. Alessandro Vittoria. Alvise Vivarini. Bartolomeo Vivarini. The Capella del Rosario Built in 1582 to commemorate the victory of Lepanto, contained paintings by Tintoretto, Palma the Younger, Titian and Giovanni Bellini, among others, but they were destroyed in a fire in 1867 attributed to anti-Catholic arsonists. After the 15th century the funeral services of all of Venice's doges were held in San Giovanni e Paolo. Twenty-five doges are buried in the church, including: Jacopo Tiepolo. Marino Morosini. Reniero Zeno. Lorenzo Tiepolo. Giovanni Dolfin. Marco Cornaro. Michele Morosini. Antonio Venier. Michele Steno. Tommaso Mocenigo. Pasquale Malipiero. Nicolo Marcello. Pietro Mocenigo. Andrea Vendramin. Giovanni Mocenigo. Leonardo Loredan. Alvise I Mocenigo. Sebastiano Venier. Bertucci Valier. Silvestro Valier. Other people buried in the church include: Orazio Baglioni, general. Gentile Bellini, artist. Giovanni Bellini, artist. Gianbattista Bonzi, senator. Bartolomeo Bragadin. Marco Antonio Bragadin, general, flayed alive by the Turks-the tomb contains only his skin.