The Saints and the Patron of Mestre - The Churches of Mestre

SAINTS OF MESTRE - CHURCHES OF MESTRE

(Text written by the Author mentioned beneath only for the site mes3.altervista.org, all rights reserved, forbidden reproduction with every mean and most of all in other web-sites)

The Saints of Mestre:
The Patron of Mestre, historically speaking, is Saint Laurence (august 10th) but Saint Michael Archangel (september 29th) is the most celebrated feast nowadays.
As a matter of fact the main church of Mestre is dedicated to Saint Laurence, while the Church of Saint Michael is in Marghera (Mestre south). That's because in the past in Mestre two different feasts were celebrated.
Saint Laurence was the real religious feast, that was celebrated on august 10th and, according to some nineteenth-century documents, it was a proper patronal feast, with the Mass in the Cathedral in the presence of the autorities and a few concessions to civil and popular aspects: the fireworks, the presence of the musical band and a market of three days, from   august 9th to 11th.
Instead a feast that was born more probably from an ancient popular devotion to the saint was Saint Michael Archangel. This religious feeling crystallized into a traditional feast, as testifies already a document dating back to march 9th 1689, with which the podestā Andrea Contarini allowed, on demand of the previous year by the Magnificent Community of Mestre, that take place in Mestre, in addition to a market every second friday of each month, also a fair of four days beginning from the day of Saini Michael, on september 29th. This saint and this date were probably chosen by popular devotion also bacause the date was at the end of summer, in the period in which rural communities made projects, drew up a balance sheet and did business, before november 11th, when the agrarian agreements were drawn up.
Roberto Stevanato reports three possible theses about the historical reasons of the Feast of Saint Michael. According to the first one, as the Saint Laurence Church, built again between 14th and 15th century, was sacred only in 1515, on the last Sunday of september, that could have caused the celebration of Saint Michael. The second one speaks about a feast of Saint Michael imposed by Venice, that conquered Mestre on september 29th 1337. Stevanato however leans to the third thesis, that allows to get a more ancient explication: documents of the domination of Treviso on Mestre mention, as a matter of fact, the presence of a "General  Fair of Saint Michael", that took place in Mestre but was important for the whole district as a civil fair and an agrarian market.
Today the feast of Saint Michael is inserted in a group of events and happenings originally named "The September of Mestre" and then extended into "From Saint Michael to the Sortie" (september 29th - october 27th). Some authors (Borgonovi, Coronelli, Barcella, Agnoletti) remind that the Patron of the city is Saint Laurence. Anyhow, the increasing importance of the civil feast of Saint Michael as centuries went by and its more convenient position in the autumn rather than in the summer holidays made most people today individuate the Saint Patron of Mestre in Saint Michael.

Bibliography and further informations:

The Churches of Mestre:

Church of San Lorenzo (Duomo of Mestre), 113 Ferretto Square: church of very ancient origin but the first historical data date back to 1152. The church was rebuilt between the XIV and the XV century. The actual buiding was made between the 1779 and the 1805, on a plan by the architect Bernardino Maccaruzzi, who made it with a neo-classic front and wider interiors.

Church of San Girolamo, 28 San Girolamo St.: built in 1261, was the third church of the Village of Mestre, but the first built inside the perimeter of the second castle of Mestre.

Church of San Rocco, 39 Manin St.: built about in 1476, probably in occasion of a pestilence. Beside it si sviluppō the piccolo Borgo of San Rocco.

Church of Santa Maria della Salute: built between the 17th and the 18th century, it was demolished in 1903 and rebuilt, according to the neo-gothic attitude, in 1906, on a project by the architect Raffaele Cattaneo.

Church of San Carlo Borromeo, 3 Cappuccina St.: the Capuchin Friar Minors, present in Mestre since 1610, made it to be built between 1613 and 1619. The Monastery was suppressed by Napoleon in 1810 and reopened only in 1940. The church was rebuilt in neo-Romanesque style between 1962 and 1967. There is kept the Russian icon of the Our Lady of the river Don.

Church del Sacro Cuore, 61Aleardi St.: original structure built between 1967 and 1970 by the architect Adriano Galderisi (look also at Architecture of the 20th century in Mestre).

Church of San Pietro in Vincoli, 20 Chiesa St. (Trivignano, Mestre west): it could be very ancient and it was mentioned for the first time by a document of 1297. Restored by Giovan Battista Meduna in 1847.

Church of Santa Maria Immacolata and San Vigilio, 1 Scaramuzza St. (Zelarino, Mestre west): it was mentioned for the first time by a document of 1297, too. In the origin it was a country chapel, maybe built by the Foscari family. It was rebuilt by the architect Gian Paolo Mar.

Church of San Giorgio, San Giorgio Square at Chirignago, Mestre west: it was the first branch of the Church of the archipriest of Mestre and it has been mentioned since 1178. Rebuilt in 1870-1878 by the architect Pietro Saccardo.

Church dei Santi Gervasio and Protasio at Carpenedo (Mestre north), at 2 San Donā St.: the first church maybe dates back to the to 5th century but the first historical data appeared only from 1145. Rebuilt at the half of the 19th century, the new church, built around and above the previous one, was inhaugurated in 1858 but it was completed only in 1912, according to the plan of the architect and engineer Giambattista Meduna, who made it be an example of the neo-gothic attitude.

Church of Sant'Andrea Apostolo, 131 Altinia St., Favaro (Mestre east): built at the end of the 14th century, rebuilt in 1874 by the architect Pietro Saccardo.

Church dei Santi Martino and Benedetto, 89 Orlanda St., Campalto (Mestre east): according to some historical data the church has been existing since the 5th century A.D. and for sure the worship of San Martino in Strata is testified in the zone in very ancient times; the church was rebuilt a first time in 1503, a second time before 1777, finally by the architect Virginio Vallot in 1964-1967.

Church dei Santi Antonio and Elena, Triestina St., Tessera (Mestre est): the church, very ancient, was consecrated to the worship of Sant'Antonio maybe already in the 9th century.

Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Poerio St. (Mestre center): built in the 16th century for the nearby Nunnery of Benedettine Nuns, coming from Friuli. The Convent was supressed in 1806. The Church, desecrated, was restored only in 1983 and today it's a Cultural Center, containing the bookshop of Saint Michael and a hall for lectures.

Church of San Lorenzo Giustiniani, Castellana St.: built (1959-1963) by the architect Marino Meo.

Church of Santa Maria of Lourdes, 11 febbraio Small Square (Piave St.): the church of Piave St. as rebuilt in 1946-1952 in Romanesque style after the previous one, of 1925, was destroyed by the bombings of the world war two; architect Renato Renosto.

Church della Madonna Pellegrina or Cuore Immacolato of Maria, Altobello St.: 1954, architect Renato Renosto.

Church of Santa Maria della Pace, Bissuola St.: 1961, architect Renato Renosto.

Church of Saint Mark, Saint Mark Avenue: 1963-1967, architect Marino Meo.

Church of San Giuseppe, Saint Mark Avenue: 1959-1963, architect Marino Meo.

Church of Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, Gazzera: 1956, architect Marino Meo.

Church of San Gregorio Barbarigo and Santa Maria Goretti, Pineta St.: 1960, architect Angelo Scattolin.

Church of Corpus Domini, Gagliardi St. (Quarter Pertini): 1990, architect Ettore Vio.

Church of Saint Trinity, Terraglio  St.: 1964-1966, architect Cerutti.

Church of Jesus Worker, Fratelli Bandiera St.: 1950-1954, architect Angelo Scattolin.

Church of San Michele Arcangelo, Fratelli Bandiera St.: 1950-1954, architect Brenno Del Giudice.

Church of Sant'Antonio, Sant'Antonio Square: 1935-1936, architect Angelo Scattolin.

Church of San Pio X, Nicolodi Square: 1964-1966, architect Vinicio Lazzari.

Church of San Pietro Orseolo, Don Sturzo St. (Carpenedo): 1975, architect Giorgio Zennaro.

(Text written by the Author mentioned beneath only for the site mes3.altervista.org, all rights reserved, forbidden reproduction with every mean and most of all in other web-sites)

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