The two Catholic institutions are located in the northern part of the Lido di Venezia and house the relics of Saint Nicholas, patron of sailors (shared with Bari).

[1] The convent and the church date to the origins of Venice in the early Middle Ages, founded, according to a legend,[2] by the Zancaruol [it] family.

In 1099, the Venetian participation in the First Crusade departed from this port, led by the Bishop of Castello and Giovanni, son of the doge Vital I Michiel.

In 1245 Salinguerra II Torelli [it] was buried here; he was a Ghibelline nobleman who held the city of Ferrara for many years, and who disputed the primacy of the Este family.

The three bells in G major date back to the 16th century.Italian painter Francesco Guardi (October 5, 1712 – January 1, 1793), member of the classic Venetian School of Painting, is one of the most pivotal figures regarding the visual documentation of San Nicolò through his numerous works.

His painting style, known as pittura di tocco (of touch) due to its small dotting and spirited brush-strokes, was later highly prized by the French Impressionists.

San Nicolò plays a pivotal place as a filming location as it hosted the production of the 1971 Italian-French drama film Death in Venice (original Italian title: Morte a Venezia) directed by Luchino Visconti and starring Dirk Bogarde and Björn Andrésen, based on the eponymous novella by German author Thomas Mann.

However, the 'Venetian glass museum' and 'fight between Bond and Chang' (Drax's original bodyguard played by Toshiro Suga) was shot at Boulogne Studios in a building which had once been a World War II Luftwaffe aircraft factory during Germany's occupation of France.