The church was founded in the 11th Century by Mauro Tosello and his son Bartolomeo, who used it to house the arm of St Bartholomew that they had brought from Apulia in 1043. Rebuilt 1174 by Doge Sebastiano Ziani and reconsecrated in 1292. Fra Bartolomeo Fonzio Veneziano preached here, before being accused of heresy and drowned at the Lido with a stone around his neck on 4th August 1562. The present church dates from the rebuilding by the Brescian priest/architect Carlo Corbellini from 1753. The first mass was celebrated on 27th April 1760, while this work continued.