A tenth-century undercroft that remains flooded for most of the year and looks like the original blueprint for a pool you’ve definitely found in the Backrooms. At low tide the water is a mirror, at high tide: it is a lagoon. San Zaccaria stands in Castello, a few minutes east of Piazza San Marco. A church has been on the site since the early 9th century, the present church is late Gothic turning Renaissance. The crypt under San Tarasio is what remains of that first building: modest, three aisles, simple capitals, early 10th century. It once held relics and ducal burials (accounts speak of eight holy bodies and several doges). The nave above is Bellini and Tintoretto and a working parish. It is best experienced at low tide, when it is possible to enter the crypt; otherwise it is only viewable from the stairs.
Photo credits: “Cripta de San Zaccaria” by JJ Merelo, CC BY-SA 2.0 , “Altar de la cripta de San Zaccaria” by JJ Merelo, CC BY-SA 2.0 , “San Zaccaria Crypt” by stephenrwalli, CC BY-SA 2.0 , “Venice, Italy” by Alejandro, CC BY 2.0 , “Flooded Crypt” by Eden, Janine and Jim, CC BY 2.0 , “San Zaccaria de noche” by JJ Merelo, CC BY-SA 2.0
