Santa Croce degli Armeni or Holy Cross Armenian Church is a church in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, on Calle dei Armeni, near

St Mark's Basilica The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark (), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica (; ), is the cathedral church of the Patriarchate of Venice; it became the episcopal seat of the Patriarch of Venice in 1807, replacing the earlier cath ...

. It is the national church of the Armenian community in Venice.

History

The first contacts between Armenian merchants and Venetians go back to the 6th century. By the 12th century, the Armenian community was established in Venice. It became one of the Republic's wealthiest foreign communities. In the middle of 13th century Venetian nobleman and doge Marco Zianni built a hospice for the Armenian merchants. An altar and chapel were erected in the territory in 1434. In 1688 merchant Guerek Mirmanian was granted permission to expand the chapel into a full-fledged church, which later became an important institution for the community. Today the church is open for Mass one day a month. The priests from the

San Lazzaro degli Armeni San Lazzaro degli Armeni (, "Saint Lazarus of the Armenians"; sometimes called Saint Lazarus Island in English; ) is a small island in the Venetian Lagoon which has been home to the monastery of the Mekhitarists, an Armenian Catholic congregati ...

row over to Venice to celebrate mass at the church on the last Sunday of the month at 10:30 AM.Santa Croce degli Armeni
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croce degli armeni Churches in Venice Eastern Catholic church buildings in Italy Armenian Catholic Church in Italy