2024-02-23 12:45:52
During excavations in St. Mark’s Square, walls and several levels of pavement from the ancient church of San Geminianoone of the oldest in Venice and to which the Doges of the first centuries of the Republic were very devoted.
The remains of the iglesia of San Geminiano, which was during the Middle Ages one of the most important places of worship in Venice, have appeared during some excavations carried out in the St. Mark’s Squares of the city.
The excavations in the St. Mark’s Square They began months ago following finding some remains while beginning the restoration of the stone blocks used for the floor of the square, damaged by the rising waters of recent years.
“We have found structures and floors of the church”
During these excavations, walls and several levels of pavement were discovered, some of which date back to the Early Middle Ages, that is, before the year 1000, which covered the St. Mark’s Square and that “are presumably attributable to the ancient iglesia of San Geminiano, which was located here in the first medieval centuries and of which, over time, memory had been lost regarding its exact location,” he explained to EFE archaeologist Sara Bini from the Archaeological Superintendency.
“We were able to arrive at this hypothesis thanks to the archival sources that give its name to the iglesia at this point in the square, but also thanks to the recent discovery, in addition to the aforementioned walls, of a tomb inside which there were at least four people,” he added.
In ancient times, he explains, “it was very common to bury next to or within places of worship and it was equally common to place several deceased within the same tomb, not necessarily at the same time. Since the sources at this point speak of the presence only from the iglesia of San Geminiano and that the cemeteries almost always have a nearby cult building, we can assume with high probability that we have found the structures and floors of the iglesia“.
In this way, the archaeologist points out, “we will be able to investigate, at least in part, one of the oldest places of worship in Venicewhich existed long before the basilica dedicated to Saint Mark and before the square took its current form”
The iglesia of San Geminiano is important not only because it may be one of the oldest in Venicebut also because it was a iglesia to which the Doges of the first centuries of the Republic of Veniceto the point that the building is also known as the Iglesia of the Doges.
Over time, despite the urban changes that affected the square, the iglesia of San Geminiano was progressively moved, but its original location in the center of the current city had never been identified. St. Mark’s Square.
“Thanks to these archaeological excavations we will have much more data available and following careful study of the post-excavation documentation, analysis of archival sources and digital reconstruction techniques now available for historical-archaeological research, it will be easier for everyone to understand not only the evolution, but also the birth of the Plaza and the Venice of the first centuries,” Bini added. (With information from EFE)
The remains of the church of San Geminiano, which was one of the most important places of worship in Venice during the Middle Ages, have appeared during some excavations carried out in the city’s Saint Mark’s SquareSource: EFE
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