Belegno

The Belegno, sometimes spelled Bellegno, were a Venetian patrician family counted among the old houses of the lagoon. Tradition held that they came from Bergamo and settled at Rialto, where they built the church of San Bartolomeo, first dedicated to Saint Demetrius.

They were confirmed in the patriciate at the lockout of the Great Council in 1297, with a collateral branch admitted in 1311. During the Tiepolo conspiracy of 1310, ducal councillor Filippo Belegno persuaded Bajamonte Tiepolo to lay down his arms at the last moment.

Giusto Antonio Belegno later commanded the Venetian armada at the unsuccessful Battle of Ragusa in 1617 and was relieved of command. The house died out around 1698, or perhaps in the middle of the eighteenth century with Paolo Antonio Belegno.