In a publication “the church of S. Fantin in Venice” (photographic cat. of the Churches and Schools of Venice, Marciana Library) with the historical origins of the Church and the saint, in a passage like this it is written: «It remains unknown how the cult of this Saint – included among the oldest and most venerated ones in the Marcian mosaics in the atrium – reached Venice from distant Calabria: the hypothesis is put forward that it is due to the close commercial relations between Venice and the Calabrian salt pans and the consequent presence in the city of merchants from those places”. Moreover, this is also the thesis supported by C. Candiani in “Tramontin et Alii”, and shared by Demus in “The Mosaics” with reference to the salt trade between Calabria and Venice: they maintain that: with the construction of the church of San Fantin, some citizens of Venice wanted to honor a Saint venerated in distant lands, who they had heard praised in their commercial ports.
In this regard, we remind ourselves of the locality of the ancient territory of Taureana called Vallis Salinarum (Valle delle Saline, today included in the territories of Palmi, Gioia Tauro, San Martino, Seminara and Melicuccà), also called Turma delle saline: it was one of the most important areas of Byzantine Calabria for the quantity of monasteries and Holy Ascetics who lived there; it often recurs in the bios of Italo-Greek saints (“The Turma delle Saline in the Calabria theme of the 11th century” – A. Guillou), where, he states, that probably in ancient times salt was extracted from sea water, used , not only to flavor foods, but above all for their preservation.
This precious good was purchased by merchants who landed at the port of Taureana, also frequented for the trade of terracotta, silk, olive oil and wine, of which we know the name “Palmaziano” appreciated and praised in the ancient world, man as the number of those who had tasted it grew[…] cited by Cassiodorus (in the photo, left) in his epistles to Athanasius 5th century; moreover, the maritime routes traveled with increasing frequency by Venetian merchant fleets in the direction of Mediterranean ports are known. The most relevant for the Italian peninsula is the one that reached Naples, Genoa and Spain along the coast through the Strait of Messina, see the “Rizo” Portolan, the first printed pilot book, published in Venice, 1490.
Other hypotheses are also put forward regarding the arrival of the cult of San Fantino in Venice, which we report here for the record:
Following miracles:
A tourist guide to the churches of Venice proposes the thesis that the Venetian navigators wanted to honor San Fantino, with the construction of a Church following miracles received through the intercession of the Saint, in fact two posthumous miracles (13th and 19th of the bios) speak note of rescues at sea: a bishop sends a jar full of oil to the Calabrian monastery named after the saint for having saved himself, since, tossed by the waves right in sight of Taureana, he had invoked him; the same hagiographer narrates how thanks to the saint’s intervention he escaped a shipwreck during the crossing from Sicily to Constantinople.
For the memory of the Saint:
the other hypothesis put forward by scholars: due to the almost total destruction of the city which occurred around 951, a large number of Taurian citizens, now tired of the continuous pirate incursions and taking advantage of the Venetian ships that landed there for trade, embarked towards Venice, because it was considered safer at that time and, there, they wanted to continue the cult of their Patron Saint, which later materialized with the construction of the Church dedicated to him.
The cult of San Fantino in Venice was very widespread in ancient times, as evidenced by the presence of the names Fantino and Fantina among the Venetians; in documents dated 1155 the name of one of the richest Venetian merchants, a certain “Fantinus da Molino” often appears; since the 14th century the names dedicated to our Saint have multiplied (in the photo, a statue dedicated to him): for example, one of the daughters of the famous navigator Marco Polo was called Fantina, various members of the noble Dandolo family had the name Fantino, the historic 17th century pharmacy San Fantin and many others up until today (in a shop sign there is it was written Fantino Ferrari bookbinding). Even today the names “Fantino” with the more widespread variant “Fantini” is still present throughout Italy.
The feast of the saint took place on July 24th with the procession of boats along the canals decorated with festive flags, organized by the Scaletteri school of Venice, who for a reason unknown to us elected San Fantino as their protector. the State Archives of Venice writes thus: “Art of scaletteri”. Scaletteri (sellers of puff pastries called scalette) (ref. doc. 1618 – 1806).
“Scaleter” is the term used to refer to pastry chefs in Venice. The name derives from some sweets that were produced on the occasion of particular celebrations or weddings: they were like wafers with imprinted signs similar to the steps of a ladder. The first headquarters of the Guild was in the church of S. Fantin, where their banner with the image of San Fantino, their protector, is still kept today. At the end of the Republic there were 59 shops in the city.
The conclusions
The significant importation into Venice of customs, cultures, arts and cults coming from ancient Eastern Christianity, including those from southern Italy, is a well-known phenomenon, which is confirmed in the cultural, political and commercial ties that united the Venetian Duchy to the Byzantine Empire, of which it was a province for many centuries. This import obviously follows the maritime routes, widely traveled by the Venetian commercial fleets as early as the 9th century in the direction of the ports of the Mediterranean and the south of the Italian peninsula as attested by the Venetian documents on the commercial relations between the Republic of San Marco and the cities of the empire of Byzantium in the early Middle Ages.
But much more significant are the numerous Byzantine documents which illustrate, through the imperial concessions to Venice and its citizens, the dimension of trade between the end of the century. X and the end of the XII. Among the clauses of the chrysobol of 1082 there was one which ensured the Venetians customs exemptions throughout the Empire, in the ports where Byzantine officials collected taxes on the circulation and sale of goods and where they could trade freely, among these there it was the province of Calabria, firmly in Byzantine hands, sheltered from the Arab danger, already looming in nearby Sicily and in the seas in front of the stops in North Africa. Tauriana was a commercial port well known in ancient times for the trade of salt, wine, oil and pottery. It was here that they learned the name of the Thaumaturgical Saint that they founded in Venice towards the end of the century. X the church of San Fantin? (Domenico Bagalà – end)
