San Giacomo di Rialto, also known as San Giacometto, is believed to be the oldest church in Venice.

With its typical cross plan, it was first built in 421, the year the city was founded according to tradition. The church we see today is the result of restoration work in 1601. The huge clock (1410) and the outstanding atrium with its Gothic portico are the two most distinctive features of this church. Money-changers and bankers used to sit under the portico, waiting for foreign currency or customers wishing to borrow. All banking transactions were conducted outdoors at the time, under the careful eye of the authorities. The concept of “exchange” was born right here.
There is a statue known as the “Gobbo di Rialto” ("Hunchback of Rialto") at the edge of Campo San Giacomo, the square with the church.

In the 16th Century it was customary for perpetrators of minor crimes to be forced to run between people with sticks from St. Mark’s Square to Campo San Giacomo: the view of the Hunchback was a great relief for them, as it marked the end and goal of this perhaps cruel, but certainly effective punishment.

400 - 1000 - S. POLO - rev. 0.1.5