Church of San Geremia and the grave of Santa Lucia

Inside the district of Cannaregio, just few minutes walking far from the Santa Lucia train station, you can find the beautiful church of San Geremia.

On the inside, you can admire the wonderful works of art but most important, this church is a well known pilgrimage point because of the grave of Santa Lucia di Siracusa, who is celebrated on December 13th and is known by the pilgrims to be the “eye protector”.

The outside of the church is featured by the façade overlooking the Gran Canal, on which you can easily see the following inscription: “Lucia Vergine di Siracusa rests in peace in this temple. You inspire a bright future and peace to Italy and the entire World”.
The city of Siracusa, hometown of the Saint in Siciliy, is still claiming for the mortal remains to be taken back where she was born, even though they have been steadily here in Venice for many centuries. The chapel in which the open air grave stands has been made in 1863, using the same material of the church of Santa Lucia. This church, built in Palladian style, was demolished in 1861 due to the construction of the Venice train station, which have been built where the church was formerly standing and got the name out of it.

There are many stories around the Saint’s grave, but the most important happened in 1981: some criminals entered the church suddenly forcing the main doors, stole the Saint’s grave and asked for a money ransom. The big matter came to a successful conclusion when the local police retrieved the Saint’s mortal remains the very same day of her celebration, on December 13th.

Every year, always more and more pilgrims and visitors in general come over the church either to simply light a candle or to address a prayer to the Saint.