Overview
This is one of the oldest churches in Venice, built on one of the first inhabited islands. The name may refer as a derivation, to the "lauro" trees which grew in the vicinity. The building is a basilican plan with a central apse and small arches and pilasters. It has a Gothic "ships keel" ceiling. The 1225 re-building work incorporated within the structure Byzantine pieces that had been brought back from the Levant after the IV Crusade (1204) - these include the fine green marble column with an Ionic capital praised by John Ruskin and Gabriele d'Annunzio.
- Lorenzetti, Venice and Its Lagoon: Historical-Artistic Guide (Rome: Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, 1961) as translated and with supplementary content by Taryn Marie Zarrillo, 2012/13 - Lorenzetti, Venice and Its Lagoon: Historical-Artistic Guide (Rome: Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, 1961) as translated and with supplementary content by Taryn Marie Zarrillo, 2012/13