Rio dei Mendicanti (c1200). The Rio dei Mendicanti or San Zanipolo is a Venice canal forming the limit between the sestiere of Cannaregio and Castello. The Rio dei Mendicanti is approximately 400 meters long. It connects the rio di Santa Marina in a north-northeast direction with the Canale delle Fondamente Nove. The origin of the Mendicanti hospital dates back to the 13th century when the survivors of the Soria lineages imported leprosy. Then, in 1224 those who were affected were taken in a Court to the SS. Gervasio and Protasio, called lazaret. In 1262, the sick, especially beggars and old helpless people, were transported to an island in the lagoon, the future Saint Lazare, until the 16th century. In the following century, the charity of the Venetians, and especially that of the rich merchants Bartolammeo Bontempelli dal Calice and G. Dominique Biava had erected on the drawing of Scamozzi, a hospice for beggars inside the city, to the SS. Giovanni and Paolo. The church in the center of the hospital was consecrated in 1636 as San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti Church and in 1673 saw its perspective rise on the drawing of Giuseppe Sardes, on the will of the merchant Jacopo Galli. After the fall of the Republic, the hospital became a military hospital together with the Scuola Grande di San Marco, the Chapel of the Pace and the convent of the SS. Giovanni and Paolo, before becoming in 1819 the hospitable Civil, and in 1826 returning the church to worship.