The church is said to have been built in the 17th century after the twelve apostles appeared in a dream to San Magno, ordering him to build a temple in their honour.

The palazzo on the square used to belong to the traitorous Doge Marin Faliero who was decapitated for seeking to become sole lord of the city. People say that the home, adorned with paterae and the arms of the Falier family, was given to the furrier who exposed and reported the doge’s conspiracy. 

A curious anecdote: during the construction of the bell tower, one of the church’s priests slipped and fell from the bell room, but was saved from certain death when his cassock caught on the clock.