Types: Crosses
Venice, as it exists today, was little more than marshy swampland until after Christianity had become a well-established religion in Europe, and the crosses that appear throughout the city are almost exclusively symbols of that religion. Given the number of churches in Venice (142 currently, but closer to 1,000 in the sixteenth century), there are fewer crosses decorating the city than one might expect. This is especially surprising when the number of crosses is compared to that of other pagan symbols like patere. However, as the expression so pointedly proclaims, "Siamo Veneziani e poi Christiani," ("We are Venetians first, then Christians"), it was more important to the largely insular Venetian community to declare political and mercantile allegiances than religious ones.
There are three popular styles of cross in Venice: Latin (crux ordinaria), Greek (crux immissa quadrata), and variants on the cross pattée. Latin crosses, the most familiar to practitioners of western Christianity feature a longer vertical beam intersected near the top by a shorter crossbeam. Greek and pattée crosses have all arms of equal length; the Greek form uses uniformly-shaped beams, while Maltese and pattée-style crosses, some with origins in the Italian republic of Amalfi, have arms that narrow towards the center of the symbol.
As one might expect, crosses can often be found in the areas surrounding churches. Of the 74 crosses in the public art catalog in Venice, 28 are located in actual church campi, and 7 additional crosses are located on the streets surrounding churches. Lagoon islands account for an additional 6 crosses, a small but not entirely unexpected number, considering the relatively small number of churches on the islands outside of Venice proper. Two crosses are currently recorded as missing.
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