The Basilica of St. John and St. Paul, known in Italian as Santi Giovanni e Paolo and in Venetian dialect as San Zanipolo, stands out as one of the most imposing churches in Venice, in the Veneto region of Italy, and holds the title of minor basilica.

This majestic brick building, erected in Italian Gothic style, served as the main place of worship for the Dominican order in Venice, designed to house large congregations. Its dedication to John and Paul, though not referring to the biblical apostles but to two little-known martyrs of the early Christian church in Rome, dates from the third century, though its legend developed later.

The history of the basilica dates back to 1246, when the Doge Jacopo Tiepolo donated a marshy piece of land to the Dominicans after having a dream in which he saw a group of white doves flying over the area. Construction of the present church began in 1333, after the demolition of the original structure, and was not completed until 1430.

Its vast interior contains numerous funerary monuments, paintings and remarkable relics, such as the Madonna of Peace, a Byzantine statue located in a dedicated chapel in the southern nave, and the foot of St. Catherine of Siena, the main relic of the church.

The Basilica of San Zanipolo is also a parish church of the Vicariate of San Marco-Castello, which includes other churches such as San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti, Ospedaletto and Beata Vergine Addolorata.

Notable artists who contributed to the artistic richness of the basilica include Giovanni Bellini, Bartolomeo Bon, Cima da Conegliano, Niccolò di Piero Lamberti, Pietro Lombardo, Lorenzo Lotto, Veronese and many more, whose works adorn the walls, chapels and ceilings of this impressive place of worship. However, the Chapel of the Rosary, erected in 1582 to commemorate the victory in the Battle of Lepanto, suffered the loss of its pictorial masterpieces in a fire attributed to anti-Catholic arsonists in 1867.