In the quiet little drawing-room of Campo Sant’Aponal (a square), a stone’s throw from the Rialto, the church of the same name tells the story of Venice against the light: it was founded by Ravennans — the Sciavola and perhaps the Rampana families — around 1034 and dedicated to St Apollinaris, the patron saint of their city, whom the dialect compressed into ’Aponal’.