San Felice di Nola

Welcome to a geocaching adventure that will take you to the fascinating San Felice Church in Venice and tell you something about the church and the life of St Felix of Nola! To solve the cache you will need to enter the church, so please make sure it is open when you go. The opening hours can be found on the church website. See the cache section below.

History: The first church building is said to have been commissioned by the patrician Gallina family in 966, although the first document mentioning the existence of this church dates back to 1133. A second construction or rebuilding of the church was consecrated on 15 July 1267 by the Bishop of Caorle. After the church was demolished due to unsafe structural conditions, the building was completely rebuilt in 1531. The current building with its beautiful Renaissance lines used to stand much more discreetly, surrounded by small buildings, among which it stood out with its elegant shape.

Architecture: The floor plan of the church is a variation of the elongated Greek cross with a central dome around which the side aisles open up between the arches. Almost completely gutted in the 19th century, it is now white inside and decorated with neoclassical altars made of Greek marble. 

Inside: Inside, San Felice harbours relics such as the bones of Saint Felix and a piece of earth stained with Christ's blood. The interior of the church was radically remodelled in 1810, replacing the 16th century altars with modern ones. Particularly noteworthy are the chapel to the left of the presbytery with the bones of St Tryphon and the chapel to the right of the choir with a painting of St Demetrius by the young Tintoretto.

Art highlights: An early work by Tintoretto, "San Demetrio and Zuan Pietro Chigi", can be found in the chapel to the right of the choir. Equally noteworthy is a painting by Lattanzio Querena from the early 19th century, which depicts St Joseph with the Christ Child on his lap (normally it is always Mary with the child on her lap) and saints. Lost art: An altarpiece by Giovanni Bellini, originally intended for this church, and a painting by Gentile da Fabriano have unfortunately been lost.

St Felix of Nola: St Felix of Nola (born in Nola, a town approx. 35 km north-east of Naples, died there in approx. 313) was a priest and possibly also a bishop and martyr. His day of remembrance is 14 January. The life of St Felix is mainly passed down through Paulinus of Nola. According to this, he was the son of a Syrian named Hermias who had settled in Nola and served in the Roman army. Felix converted to Christianity and distributed his fortune and inherited property among the poor. Maximus, the bishop of Nola, ordained him a priest. During the persecution of Christians under Emperor Decius, Maximus was able to flee, while Felix was arrested and tortured. In prison, an angel appeared to him: his chains fell off and he was able to hurry past his sleeping guards to his bishop, who was suffering from hunger and cold and had lost his speech. Felix brought the half-dead old man back to life with the juice of a grape. During another wave of persecution, Felix hid in a cave, in the entrance to which a spider immediately wove a huge dense web, tempting the hunters to look elsewhere. After the persecution had lasted a whole year and Felix had to stay in a dry well, he was able to return to his parish in 313. He refused the office of bishop, spent the rest of his days in poverty and calmly accepted great suffering, so that he earned the name "martyr" without having shed his blood. According to the tradition of Paulinus, St Felix died at an advanced age on 14 January. 
Although St Felix was not killed, he was recognised as a martyr by the Church because of the many sufferings he endured during his lifetime. His body is buried in the early Christian basilica of Cimitile.

Cache: To solve the cache, go to the left-hand side (when facing the altar). There you will find a black memorial plaque above the door: Carlo Rezzonico was baptised in the church of San Felice on 29 March 1693. He later became Pope under a different name. This name (only the first name in capital letters, exactly as it appears on the plaque - in the Latin genitive case) is the password for logging the cache.