Street Saints. Santi di strada. Straatheiligen. Venice. Venezia. Venetië

In all old cities, the present determines how the past is perceived. Historical architecture
counterpoints modern high-rises, an exceptional listed building can stand at a busy crossroads, half of
an old street consists of new buildings and vehicular traffic dominates once quiet street scenes. In
Venice, none of that is an issue. Rather than offering visitors a fragmented experience of history,
Venice immerses its guests in a world where traces of the past are visible everywhere. Conversely,
unfortunately enough, visitors hardly see anything of how the city originally functioned. The
inevitable and somewhat unedifying conclusion seems to be that Venice has gradually taken on the
traits of an open-air museum for mass tourism. That observation is not justified in every respect,
though.
Anyone who looks at the many wall shrines in the city knows that Venice is still more than an open-air
museum.. The wall shrines - or street shrines if you prefer - are still highly relevant to many of the
remaining inhabitants. They do not see them as the religious artefacts of a bygone age but more as
an essential aspect of living in the city. So they are properly maintained and get restored when
necessary. So, in their own modest way, many of the shrines show how Venice has kept the past alive.
Maarten van Noort photographed all the street shrines of Venice, Murano, and Burano. He found
them in deserted squares, in silent streets, and dark underpasses; he saw hundreds, and no two were
alike. Over a hundred of the most beautiful ones were given their own page in the book, while nearly
another hundred more are illustrated in small format. This book thus demonstrates that street
shrines are authentic objects with their own unique beauty. An introductory essay also provides a
cultural-historical interpretation and links them to several well-known 18th-century cityscapes by
artists such as Canaletto.
Because the street saints are so well-distributed throughout the city, this book also offers the reader
the opportunity to experience Venice for themselves in a unique way. Street Saints Venice is therefore
the indispensable guide for a walk through the city, one that doesn't follow the usual routes but
instead visits the alleys, squares, and quays where the shrines are located. Using the included maps
and two QR codes, walkers can go in search of the Street Saints themselves and discover that the
beauty of Venice encompasses more than the standard tourist highlights. Anyone considering a city
trip to Venice should own this book.