Basilica minore di San Giacomo Apostolo, Chioggia

The Basilica minore di San Giacomo Apostolo ('Minor Basilica of San Giacomo Apostolo') is a religious building in Chioggia that overlooks on the main square of the city, is a Catholic church located in Chioggia, in the province of Venice, Veneto, Italy. This church elevated to minor pontifical basilica with the title of Blessed Virgin of the Navicella by Pope Pius X in 1906, it is the second largest church in the historic center of Chioggia immediately after the cathedral.

Before the church, there already existed a temple dating back to the 11th century, always dedicated to San Giacomo, which the Clodiense historian Pietro Morari, in his manuscript "The history of Chioggia" of 1637, describes as austere and low, divided into three naves by brick columns; through this description Aristide Naccari drew a graphic reconstruction. The church was built on the previous one, after the collapse of the apse on the night between 24 and 25 November 1741. The construction began after the cathedral factory approved the project of the Venetian Pietro Pelle in 1742, who also worked at the same time on the reconstruction of the church of San Domenico also in Chioggia; subsequently the project was finished by his nephew, Domenico Pelle. The church was the chaplaincy of the Cathedral and therefore it was subject to its economic jurisdiction, but being in a central position in the city, near to the homes of the highest class of the population, it could easily have financial autonomy. On 15 November 1806 the relics of the Madonna della Navicella were transferred here, from the sanctuary of the same name in Sottomarina, which was transformed into a barracks by the Austrian ruler at the end of the 18th century. In 1859 the same Marian relics were honored through the coronation, carried out by the bishop of Chioggia Jacopo De Foretti, delegated by the papal bull of Pope Pius X. From 1989 to 1992, while the cathedral was being restored, the church of San Giacomo was used as a cathedral church, hosting solemn bishop ceremonies and the relics of the patron saints Felice and Fortunato. A monument to the fallen was erected in 1923 front of the church. The winged victory bronze sculpture by Domenico Trentacoste.

The interior of the church has a rectangular plan, 25 meters wide, 35 meters long and 25 meters high. It is adorned with several altars, arranged counterclockwise as follows:

Altar of the Guardian Angel decorated with an altarpiece painted by Marinetti and a statue of Saint Rita; Altar of San Giuseppe with a statue of the saint, flanked by the statues of saints Rita and Lucia; Altar of Saints Sebastiano and Rocco, with an ancient altarpiece depicting the two saints and a panel with the face of the Madonna taken from a fresco found in Palazzo Granaio in Chioggia; Altar with the Baptistery adorned with a statue of Christ by Luigi Tomaz; Main altar designed by Aristide Naccari and executed by Pietro Longo at the beginning of the twentieth century in Carrara marble, which frames the icon and the plinth (relics of the Madonna della Navicella). The protective silver frames are the work of the goldsmith Giovanni Cristofoli, designed by the architect Lodovico Cadorin. The monumental altar is crowned by an angel with open arms, while centrally there is Pietro Longo at the beginning of the twentieth century in Carrara marble, which frames the icon and the plinth (relics of the Madonna della Navicella). The protective silver frames are the work of the goldsmith Giovanni Cristofoli, designed by the architect Lodovico Cadorin. The monumental altar is crowned by an angel with open arms, while centrally there is the statue of San Giacomo; on the sides are the city patrons Felice and Fortunato in armour. Finally, in the two niches, the statues of King David and the

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