History
Santi Giovanni e Paolo was built to honor Sts. John and Paul. Designated as a minor basilica, it is a parish church of the Vicariate of San Marco-Castello and is the principal Dominican church of Venice.
The first church on this location was ordered by Doge Jacopo Tiepolo, who gave the land on which it stood to the Dominicans after he dreamed of a flock of white doves flying over the area, which was - at that time - swampland. The Dominicans opened the first church there in 1246. That structure was demolished in 1333 when the growing congregation prompted the need for a larger building. However, it took nearly a century to build the new church, which finally opened and was consecrated in 1430.