San Francesco della Vigna: The oldest urban vineyard in Venice

On the 25^th of June, 1253, Marco Ziani, son of Doge Pietro, bequeathed a vineyard, houses, and a little church to the adjacent Franciscan friars.  The church had supposedly been built on the spot where, according to tradition, St. Mark had been driven ashore by a storm while on a return trip from Acquileia.

The Franciscans built a medieval church in the vineyard shortly after gaining access to the land. This church was a triple-nave Gothic design built by Marino de Pisa. A monastery housed the monks. Both the church and the Friary were dedicated to St. Mark until the name of St. Francis usurped that role in the mid-1300s.

A new grand Friary with three large cloisters was built in the 15^th century. 

The medieval church was demolished in the first half of the 1500s and replaced with the current design. The work on the church was substantially completed by the end of 1534 and yielded the first Renaissance church interior in Venice. The façade was not completed at this time. 

When Doge Gritti died, sponsorship of the church construction shifted to Giovanni Grimani, the Patriarch of Acquileia. Grimani funded an Istrian stone façade by Andrea Palladio for the church. Palladio’s design cleverly addressed outstanding issues and the work was done between 1564 and 1568. 

Exterior of San Francesco della Vigna

The consensus is that the church and monastery rank among the finest examples of Venetian Renaissance architecture. 

The Monastery

As was the case for similar Venetian institutions, the Friary was suppressed by Napolean in 1810, initially serving as a navy barracks then as an artillery barracks. During this period, many old ruins were demolished and the northern columns of the largest cloister bricked up. The Friary was bought back in 1881 and restored between 1953 and 1956 (isevenizia.it)

The monastery is now used for temporary exhibitions, concerts, and some Biennale exhibition events. One of its cloisters is the long-term resting place for noble Venetians while the other houses the library. 

The original bequest to the Franciscans in 1263 was a vineyard plus buildings resident thereon. The monks have continued to tend surviving vines over the years. The monastery is home to the oldest urban vineyard in Venice. 

For most of the 20^th century, the vineyard hosted the red grape varieties Teroldego del Trentino and Refosco del Friuli. The monastery has recently established a wine partnership with the Marzotto family (of Santa Margherita fame) to aid in the management of the vineyard and wine production.  In 2019 the Santa Margherita agronomists removed the red varieties and replaced them with Malvasia and Glera (the prosecco grape). 

The existing vineyard has a surface area of 1600 square meters and it has been divided between the Malvasia (400 sq meters) and Glera (1200 sq meters) varieties. The soil in the Glera zone is sandy, quick-drying and influenced by the salty water. The vines are trained simple Guyot with a pole for each vine and plants set 1 meter apart. 

The Malvasia grapes are grown in a more sheltered area. They are trained espalier Guyot with 80 cm between the vines, Soils here are less subject to brackish water: they take a longer time to absorb water but also need more time to dry out. 

The vineyard is farmed organically, and operations are conducted by hand. 

The Santa Margharita enologists produce a wine named Harmonia Mundi from these grapes. 

The initial vintage was 2022 wherein 1,107 numbered bottles were produced. The wine is a sparkling type made using the Charmat method and spending 6 months on its lees. 

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