Largely undiscovered, but beloved by the Venetians for its elegant simplicity, the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista is located in the Sestiere of San Polo, near the Basilica dei Frari. The church is dedicated to Saint John, protector of men of culture, writers, editors, and theologists, whose emblem is the eagle, which is present on the arch of the carved marble entrance to the Scuola Grande, just opposite the church. The first document that mentions the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista is from 1187, but tradition dates the foundation of the church in 970, by decree of the Badoer family. Through the centuries, the building has undergone many renovations, of which the most recent were in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1759, the architect Bernardino Maccaruzzi modified the gothic architecture, of which now there remain only a few details, including the arched ceiling in the form of the cross, and the structures of the apse and the presbitery, which transform the church into a square nave with a low ceiling, opening into two rectangular chapels on the right side and one on the left.