Over time this huge space was used for pastures and crops, until it was completely paved and used as a market square. One of the area's favorite pastimes was to organize ball games and tournaments or to hunt the bull. Until 1611, when, a plaque still present on the church of San Polo, prohibited any game or trade in the square, under penalty of imprisonment, service in the galleys or exile.
Campo San Polo is the second largest after the San Marco square, its name comes from the cripple of San Paolo and is in all respects the beating heart of the homonymous district.
To stand out above all is the church of San Paolo Apostolo, famous above all for the works it guards, also in this large field there are important palaces such as, Soranzo Palace, Tiepolo Palace, Donà Palace and Corner Mocenigo Palace. The bell tower, to the right of the entrance, is decorated with two 12th-century lions and represent a rare Venetian example of Romanesque art.
The church of San Paolo Apostolo, also called San Polo church, houses numerous prestigious works, such as the Last Supper of 1568, a masterpiece by Tintoretto, which depicts the dismay of the apostles when Jesus announces that one of them will betray him , on the opposite side San Silvestro baptizes Constantine Emperor, the work of Paolo square, in the right aisles we find the Assunta e Santi altarpiece by Jacopo Tintoretto and in the apse chapel the altarpiece of the Marriage of the Virgin, a work by Veronese from around 1580.
In the second altar of the left nave, built by Giorgio Massari, the altarpiece of La Vergine appears in San Giovanni Nepomuceno, a work by Giambattista Tiepolo from 1754. In the eighteenth-century Oratorio del Crocefisso we can admire one of the best masterpieces by Giandomenico Tiepolo, the Via Crucis, built between 1747 and 1749.
Another precious jewel, and also a typical Venetian structure, is the ship's hull ceiling, embellished with ionic colonnades , which by the way is one of the few left in Venezia. Since 1979, the field has once again been the scene of celebrations for Carnival and, thanks to its size, it is a paradise for Venetian children who go with bicycles, skates and balls to spend a few hours in the open air. None of these activities would have been possible in the 17th century.
