Travel Guide of Venice Religious architectures tourism, Italy

The historical and architectural beauties of Venice are truly numerous. Between palaces and religious structures, the city really offers many solutions to be explored. Among the most important monuments in the same area there is the basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, the synagogues of the Ghetto, the Arsenale and the basilica of Santa Maria gloriosa dei Frari. Among the most famous religious buildings, there is also the basilica of Saints John and Paul, the church of Santa Maria dei miracoli and more.

There are countless churches worthy of note that can be found in the lagoon city, both for their architectural merits and for the artistic treasures contained therein. Among the most important are the octagonal Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, with its imposing dome that stands out at the entrance of the Grand Canal and the famous and majestic Basilica of San Marco, the city’s cathedral and seat of the Patriarch and the Patriarchate of Venice, located in the homonymous square, next to the Doge’s Palace.

Venice is built on unstable mud-banks, and had a very crowded city centre by the Middle Ages. On the other hand, the city was largely safe from riot, civil feuds, and invasion much earlier than most European cities. These factors, with the canals and the great wealth of the city, made for unique building styles.

Venice has a rich and diverse architectural style, the most prominent of which is the Gothic style. Venetian Gothic architecture is a term given to a Venetian building style combining the use of the Gothic lancet arch with the curved ogee arch, due to Byzantine and Ottoman influences. The style originated in 14th-century Venice, with a confluence of Byzantine style from Constantinople, Islamic influences from Spain and Venice’s eastern trading partners, and early Gothic forms from mainland Italy.

Venetian taste was conservative and Renaissance architecture only really became popular in buildings from about the 1470s. More than in the rest of Italy, it kept much of the typical form of the Gothic palazzi, which had evolved to suit Venetian conditions. In turn the transition to Baroque architecture was also fairly gentle. This gives the crowded buildings on the Grand Canal and elsewhere an essential harmony, even where buildings from very different periods sit together.

Among other important religious buildings, There are: the basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, the church of San Francesco della Vigna, the church of San Zaccaria, the basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, the church del Redentore, the latter built on the Giudecca island on a project by Andrea Palladio, and the basilica of San Pietro di Castello which has two chapels by Veronese.

Religious history
The patriarchate of Venice is a metropolitan seat of the Catholic Church in Italy belonging to the ecclesiastical region of Triveneto. The title dates back to 8 October 1451 and is heir to the ancient patriarchate of Grado.

Meanwhile, in 774, the urban development of Venice had led to the foundation of the diocese of Olivolo (which took the name of Castello in the 11th century) and, for the same reason, the patriarch of Grado also ended up moving to the lagoon city, in 1105, settling in the church of San Silvestro.

When, during the Middle Ages, the numerous island centers of the Lagoon ended up gradually agglomerating giving a more unitary physiognomy to Venice, it turned out that four ecclesiastical offices of episcopal rank were present in the city at the same time.

During the fifteenth century a series of events took place which profoundly reformed the territorial organization of the Church in the area. Despite the high-sounding title, the territory of the patriarchate of Venice was originally very modest and for centuries was limited only to the city and to some exclaves on the mainland.

In 1807, after the fall of the Republic the position of primicerium of the Basilica of San Marco was rendered useless, the holy chair was definitively placed in the Basilica of San Marco. The patriarchate of Venice is traditionally the seat of cardinals: from 1827 to 2011 all the patriarchs were also cardinals.

Religious architectures tourism
Venice is an important destination for tourists who want to see its celebrated art and architecture. Tourism has been a major part of the Venetian economy since the 18th century, when Venice—with its beautiful cityscape, uniqueness, and rich musical and artistic cultural heritage—was a stop on the Grand Tour.

San Marco district

St. Mark’s Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of San Marco, more famously called the Basilica of San Marco is the cathedral church and seat of the patriarchate of Venice. Together with the bell tower and the square of San Marco, it forms the main architectural site of Venice, and, together with them, it constitutes the best known symbol of the city and of the Veneto in the world. It is also one of the symbols of Venetian art and Christianity. The basilica was built in 829 to contain the remains of San Marco, patron saint of the city and was consecrated in 1024. The main facade is unique. It has five arched doors, a terrace on which I am at home, four bronze horses from the prey of the 4th crusade of the unbelievers. In the period of the Republic of Venice, it was the personal chapel of the Doge and was built with various artifacts mostly from Asia Minor and donated by Venetian merchants.. Inside it is embellished with splendid golden mosaics and various works of art. By virtue of the treasure of San Marco, the ornate mosaics and the majestic design elements, which made the sacred building the visible symbol of the power and wealth.

It has been renovated and decorated several times over the centuries and the Basilica is certainly the most spectacular church in the city. The famous main façade has an ornamented roofline that is mostly Gothic. The gold ground mosaics that now cover almost all the upper areas of the interior took centuries to complete. In the 13th century the external height of the domes was greatly increased by hollow drums raised on a wooden framework and covered with metal; the original ones are shallower, as can be seen on the inside. This change makes the domes visible from the piazza. Many of its rich artifacts and relics were plundered from Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade, including many artifacts from the Hagia Sophia. For its opulent design, gold ground mosaics, and its status as a symbol of Venetian wealth and power, from the 11th century on the building has been known by the nickname Church of gold. It achieves an Oriental feeling of exoticism, has all the elements of the Venetian style of the Renaissance Art, remains unique, and essentially a product of Italian workers of all sorts.

Church of San Zulian
The church of San Zulian is a religious building in the city of Venice. The church is dedicated to the martyr St. Julian. Founded in 829, the church took its appearance during the rebuilding of Sansovino, which was funded by Dr. Tomaso Rangone, the doctor is immortalized in bronze above the portal holding the sarsaparilla – his “miracle cure”. Inside, under the painted ceiling, are the works of Palma the Younger and “Dead Christ and Saints” by Veronese. In the lunette of the pediment the Rangone stands on a funeral urn, dressed in the doctoral toga while delivering to posterity the synthesis of his knowledge wrapped in a complex symbolism.

The interior of the building has a single nave, almost square, with the rectangular presbytery covered by a cross vault, flanked by two small chapels. Christological cycle that surrounds the hall in its upper register. Eight allegorical figures around the ceiling mark the reflection on the Passion of Christ and surround the triumph of St. Julian, placed in the center of the ceiling at the end of the cycle of St. Julian, to these two cycles must be added the testimonies of the community, of the various Arts, of the Confraternities and Schools of devotion that were expressed in the side altars. There are seven altars in all: noteworthy is the altarpiece of the monumental high altar (by Giuseppe Sardi), with a Coronation of the Virgin and saints signed by Gerolamo Santacroce.

Church of Santo Stefano
The church of Santo Stefano is a place of worship catholic city of Venice. The church was built between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century by the eremitani friars of Sant’Agostino. It was rebuilt in the fourteenth century and underwent substantial enlargements during the fifteenth century. The Gothic-style portal of the church is the work of Bartolomeo Bon, while the characteristic ceiling has a ship’s keel structure. To support it, engraved beams and columns in Verona marble. The apse of the church is also a bridge under which a navigable stream flows, while the particularly high Romanesque bell tower of the church with a three-arched cell and surmounted by an octagonal drum, is characterized by a accentuated slope.

The church of Santo Stefano overlooks Campo Santo Stefano with the right side. In it there are various ogival single- lancet windows and, in the central span of the three visible from the outside, also a side portal with a carved marble cornice. The facade appears much more impressive than it is as it faces a very narrow street. In the upper band there is a rose window in the center and two Gothic mullioned windows on the sides. In the lower one, aligned with the central window, there is the imposing portal characterized by a flowery Gothic style lunette, whose perimeter is inflected on the outside and decorated with large phytomorphic flames, acute on the inside and decorated with trilobate hanging arches. On both sides of the lunette, empty in the center, there are two slender onesoctagonal spiers, while at the top of the arch, above the high relief of an angel carrying a cartouche, there is a small marble statue depicting a Christ Pantocrator.

San Salvador Church
The of the Holy Savior Church is a place of worship catholic of Venice. It was founded in the 7th century and then rebuilt in the 12th century by the Canons of Sant’Agostino. The current building was started by Tullio Lombardo, only to be later completed by Jacopo Sansovino. The façade from 1663 is the work of the well-known Ticino architect Giuseppe Sardi. In Renaissance style where it is possible to admire the Annunciation by Titian. Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus, is buried in the church inside the funeral monument dedicated to her. The church was hit in the siege of 1849, on the left side of the facade, at the base of the first column, a cannon ball can be seen embedded in the wall.

Church of San Bartolomeo
The church of San Bartolomeo is a sacred building in Venice. Founded in 840, the church dedicated to St. Demetrius of Thessalonica. A church with a nave, with a dome at the intersection of this with the transept. There are also two sculptures by Enrico Merengo inside the church. Inside are the paintings by Sante Peranda (Fall of the manna) Palma il Giovane (Punishment of the serpents) and the eighteenth-century high altar by Bernardino Maccaruzzi. In the presbytery and in the chapel on the right there are frescoes by Michelangelo Morlaiter. The organ doors are an early masterpiece by Sebastiano del Piombo.

Church of San Moisè
The church of San Moise is a religious building in the city of Venice. Erected in the late 8th century and was initially dedicated to San Vittore. A beautiful baroque style church inside houses works of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries among which the washing of the feet by Tintoretto stands out. The façade was built in 1668 thanks to the financing of the brothers Vincenzo and Girolamo Fini, who were depicted on two busts placed above the side entrances. The project is by the Paduan Alessandro Tremignon, brother of the then parish priest Andrea. The whole is in some way harmonized thanks to the use of two orders, which have dampened its development towards the other, and the use of less prominent backgrounds.

The altar of the Nativity of Mary and the high altar are also due to Tremignon. The latter is decorated with sculptures by Enrico Merengo. Among the other paintings it is possible to admire the Washing of the feet by Tintoretto, a Last Supper attributed to Palma the Younger, and two important works by Girolamo Brusaferro: the Submersion of the Pharaoh (1706) and the Elevation of the Cross (1727). The central nave houses the plaque of the Scottish financier John Law, who founded the Western Company aimed at developing the Mississippi Valley and who retired to live in Venice in the last years of his life, after suffering a series of financial setbacks. Also in the sacristy there are works by Michelangelo Morlaiter: San Matteo, San Vincenzo Ferrari, San Carlo Borromeo.

Church of San Vidal
The church of San Vidal is a religious building in the city of Venice. Built by Doge Vitale Falier in the 11th century. It is now a concert hall, which hosts classical music concerts. The main façade overlooks the Campo of the same name. It presents itself with classical forms according to a Palladian scheme and houses on two side sculpted portraits of Doge Carlo Contarini and his wife Paolina Loredan, in memory of the legacy with which the construction was financed. Tradition says that the burial of the famous Venetian musician Baldassare Galuppi was placed in the church of San Vidal, but there is no commemorative plaque to testify this.

The interior, with a vaulted ceiling, has a single nave structure, with three secondary altars on each side. Flanked by two eighteenth-century sculptures, the patriarch Simeone and San Giuseppe, attributable to Antonio Tarsia, while the upper lunette is decorated with the Ascension by Antonio Vassilacchi. The third altar on the left houses a painting from the school of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, San Sebastiano and San Rocco, by Angelo Trevisan. The high altar is located in an isolated position in the center of the presbytery and is flanked by two statues by Antonio Gai depicting La Fortezza and La Fede. On the right side, there was three altar houses works by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, Antonio Tarsia and Giovanni Battista Piazzetta. Other works can be found in the sacristy: The death of Sant’Ursicino by Gregorio Lazzarini and The martyrdom of San Vitale, an eighteenth-century painting from the Venetian school.

Church of Santa Maria del Giglio
The church of Santa Maria del Giglio is a place of worship catholic located in the center of the city of Venice. Founded in the 9th century, but almost completely rebuilt in the late 17th century. The marble façade of the church is a masterpiece of the Baroque. It consists of a series of niches with statues and bas-reliefs interspersed with Ionic (lower band) and Corinthian (upper band) columns. The statue in the central niche of the second order, depicting Antonio Barbaro on the sarcophagus. this church features a series of six relief maps on the facade depicting Rome and five then Venetian cities: Padua, the Croatian cities of Zadar and Split, and also the Greek cities of Heraklion and Corfu.

The interior of the church has a single nave with three short side chapels on each side. The main chapel in the apse is also quadrangular in plan and is covered by a lunette vault. On the main altar, on the sides of the tabernacle, there are two sculptures depicting the Annunciation, the work of Enrico Merengo. Inside there are several masterpieces. Two canvases by Tintoretto, each depicting two of the four evangelists. They are located on the sides of the body. There is a small treasure in the Molina Chapel, although the real pearl of the church is a painting by Peter Paul Rubens depicting the “Madonna with Child and St. John”. Admiral Antonio Barbaro ordered Giuseppe Sardi to rebuild the church to the glory of the Virgin, in Venice.

Castello district

Basilica of Saints John and Paul
The Basilica of Saints John and Paul is one of the most impressive medieval religious buildings in Venice. It was built together with the adjacent church and was already finished in 1293. It was rebuilt by Baldassare Longhena between 1660 and 1675. The façade is unfinished but next to it is the beautiful façade of the former Scuola Grande di San Marco. It is considered the pantheon of Venice thanks to the large number of Venetian doges and other important figures who have been buried there since the thirteenth century.

Today it houses the Civil Hospital of Venice. It is articulated around two cloisters and a courtyard. To the east is the dormitory of the friars, crossed by a very long corridor on which the cells open. The interior is austere and airy. The Longhena staircase is characterized by magnificent marble inlays; the library still retains the beautiful wooden ceiling by Giacomo Piazzetta (1682), with paintings by Federico Cervelli. In the campo, in front of the church, there is the monument to Bartolomeo Colleoni, the work of Verrocchio and one of the greatest monuments of Renaissance statuary.

Church of San Zaccaria
The church of San Zaccaria is a place of worship catholic city of Venice. The church of San Zaccaria is located in the center of Venice, near Piazza San Marco and the Doge’s Palace. Very ancient church dating back to the 9th century, at the origin of the city, it was a place closely linked to the archaic history of Venice. The current building was built between 1444 and 1515, in a style that mixes Gothic and Renaissance. The church with three naves, with cross vaults, has a tripartite facade with coupled columns and open by numerous windows, in decreasing number from bottom to top, dominated by the large arched tympanum surmounted by the statue of San Zaccaria.

Inside the tombs of many doges and works of considerable value including the polyptychs carved by Ludovico da Forlì and an altarpiece from 1505 by Bellini, Madonna enthroned with Child and saints and paintings depicting the Adoration of the Magi and the Adoration of the Shepherds. On the internal wall of the façade there are four works by Antonio Vassilacchi. In the lunettes on the walls, consisting of 8 works by Andrea Celesti,Giovanni Antonio Fumiani, Daniel Heintz, Antonio Zanchi, and Antonio Zonca, illustrates, a practically unique case, the historical and mythical events of the monastery and the church of San Zaccaria. At the left entrance of the ambulatory is the tomb of Alessandro Vittoria. The Chapel of St. Athanasius constituted the choir of the nuns. The Chapel of San Tarasio constituted the apse of the primitive church. The crypt accessed through the Chapel of San Tarasio. It was built between the 10th and 11th centuries and is divided into three naves by columns supporting cross vaults.

Church of S. Francesco della Vigna
The church of San Francesco della Vigna is a religious building in the city of Venice. In 1534 the church was built on the site of the monastery. It was designed by Sansovino. The façade was built at 1568-1577. Projected on a single floor the main nave, covered by a large tympanum, and the two lateral ones covered by two semitimpani, the compositional problem was constituted by the organic connection of the two systems and by the relationshipmodular of the two orders, the major called to hold the main tympanum and the minor the two semitimpani. Two bronze statues by Tiziano Aspetti are in the niches, in the facade: on the left there is a statue of Moses and on the right there is a statue of St. Paul.

The interior of San Francesco della Vigna is a Latin cross with a central nave, side chapels, an altar and a deeper choir. The space of the aisles, initially marked only by isolated pillars with the function of supporting the arches. On the counter-façade there is a Madonna with Child on the right, a polychrome Byzantine relief from the 12th century, while on the left the Saints Jerome, Bernardino of Siena and Ludovico di Tolosa, a triptych by Antonio Vivarini, restored in 1982. The church in the background ends with a deep presbytery with a perfectly rectangular plan divided into two parts by an altar behind which there was the choir of the friars. The side chapels, which house illustrious burials, were decorated at the expense of the Venetian nobility.

Pietà Church
The Church of Mercy or St. Mary of the Visitation is a place of worship catholic city of Venice. The current church was built between 1745 and 1760, The facade, however, remained unfinished until the early twentieth century. The building is one of the most elegant and evocative of the 17th century, in the 18th century it housed an orphanage and a hospital. On the ceiling of the main entrance there is a wonderful fresco by Tiepolo: Fortitude Peace is one of his greatest masterpieces. Also noteworthy are the frescoes that adorn the vault of the choir, which make up the Triumph of Faith. Here Tiepolo excelled himself, painting the Glory of Heaven. The church is also known among classical music fans as the church where the Catholic priest and composer Antonio Vivaldi worked for most of his life.

The interior has an ovoid plan, characterized by two choirs with wrought iron grates, which develop along the side walls. The ceiling of the main entrance houses a fresco by Giambattista Tiepolo, The Fortress and Peace. On boths side there was two altars. The altar of the main chapel, in marble, is from the eighteenth century and is characterized by a rich Baroque tabernacle, surrounded by gilded bronze figures, made by Giovanni Maria Morlaiter (The Archangels Gabriel and Michael), Antonio Gai (San Marco) and Giovanni Marchiori (San Pietro). On the ceiling there is another fresco by Giambattista Tiepolo, The Theological Virtues, made between 1754 and 1755. Above the entrance door of the choir there is a painting by Moretto, Supper in the house of Simon the Pharisee, from 1544, which was originally located in the convent of San Fermo and Rustico di Monselice. The ceiling of the choir is decorated with another fresco by Tiepolo, the Triumph of Faith.

Church of San Giovanni in Bragora
The church of San Giovanni in Bragora is a place of worship catholic city of Venice. Its foundation dates back to 829. It was rebuilt in the 10th century, and again in 1178. In 1464 the church was restructured according to a late Gothic model, in the form we know today. The restructured while maintaining the basilica structure, creates a brick facade with the usual local late Gothic shapes, with the tripartition corresponding to the aisles; the wooden trussed ceiling is interesting.

Inside the chapel dedicated to San Giovanni l’Elemosiniere was erected, which houses the precious relics of the saint. The whole, in gilded and polychrome wood, presented a rather rich and complex structure. The carving work had been entrusted to two distinct masters: Alessandro da Caravaggio was responsible for the structure of the monument with the altar and the urn, Leonardo Tedesco the relief with the figure of the Saint, gilded and painted by Leonardo Boldrini. There was some works of Jacopo Palma the Younger. The high altar houses two large statues of San Giovanni l’Elemosiniere and San Giovanni Battista. To the right of the presbytery there is a small chapel. Next to this, the sacristy, which houses works by Alvise Vivarini, Risen Christ, and by Giambattista Cima da Conegliano, Sant’Elena and Costantino on either side of the cross. Other important works by Bartolomeo Vivarini, the triptych Sant’Andrea between the Saints Martino and Girolamo.

Church of San Giorgio dei Greci
The church of San Giorgio dei Greci is a religious building in the city of Venice. The building was born as a Greek-Catholic church. TThe construction of the building, in late Renaissance style, began in 1536. The exterior of the building was finally completed in 1571 with the construction of the dome. In the building adjacent to the church there is a small Museum of Greek-Byzantine icons and Orthodox sacred vestments. According to the chronicles, already under construction and before the belfry was completed. The interior is truly magnificent: the hemispherical dome is worth noting, with the center covered with frescoes by G. di Cipro.

The interior has a single nave structure and is covered with frescoes, the work of Giovanni di Cipro, with a two-tiered wooden choir along the side walls and a works by Giovanni Grapiglia. The iconostasis is characterized by marble decorations and paintings by Michele Damasceno depicting various saints and, on the architrave, the Twelve Feasts. Also in the hieron there is a fresco by Michele Damasceno (Apostles and Greek Saints), on the small apse above the main altar, while the apse and the triumphal arch are covered with mosaics from the early seventeenth century. There are also numerous other pictorial works: Ascension by Giovanni Ciprioto, the Last Supper panel by the Cretan Benedetto Emporios and Deposition by Michele Damasceno. On the walls of the chapel that houses the altar of the Preparation there is an icon of the Virgin with a silver shirt. The furnishings of the church are completed by a lectern from 1663 in tortoiseshell and mother of pearl and four bronze candelabra from the early seventeenth century.

Basilica of San Pietro di Castello
The basilica of San Pietro di Castello is an important place of worship in Venice, until 1807 the cathedral of the patriarchate of Venice. Built starting from 822 – 823 and completed around 831 – 832, it has been restored and rebuilt several times between the 16th and 17th centuries. The monumental facade is from 1594-1596 and the insulated bell tower, designed by Mauro Codussi (1482-1490). The façade of the project is attributed to Palladio, his first work in Venice. The structure had three naves, a tripartite facade and circular apses. The fundamental theme foresees a major order corresponding to the central nave, and a minor one in relation to the lateral ones. The whole is decorated with a nineteenth – century bas-relief depicting La Carità, by the sculptor Marsili. The style can be definedclassic. The building has a Latin cross scheme with three naves divided by three arches each, with an altar inside; at the intersection with the transept is the dome. The deep presbytery, which follows the large central nave of the church, is flanked by two side chapels.

The Chair of St. Peter, which according to tradition belonged to the Apostle himself when he was bishop of Antioch. In the right aisle San Pietro in Cattedra and four Saints by Marco Basaiti. Between the two chapels, the work by Veronese from around 1585, the Saints John the Evangelist, Peter and Paul, the Immaculate Conception by Giovanni Maria Morlaiter, 18th century, and The Martyrdom of St. John the Evangelist, by Padovanino. The Supper at Emmaus by Pietro Malombra and Antonio Vassilacchi, on the left wall of the portal. In the left aisle the Vendramin chapel and Lando chapel, with a mosaic altarpiece by Arminio Zuccato, on a cartoon perhaps by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1570. While on the right, by Jacopo Beltrame, 16th century, Supper in the House of Simone, two statues by Orazio Marinali, Faith and Meditation surrounding the Crucifix by Jacopo Strada. St. George and the Princess and the Dragon, work by Marco Basaiti; since 1985 it is on deposit at the Accademia Galleries.

Church of San Lorenzo
The church of San Lorenzo is a religious building in the city of Venice. The church dates to the 9th century, and became attached to the neighboring Benedictine monastery. It was rebuilt in 1580-1616 to designs by Simone Sorela. The high altar was partly sculpted by Giovanni Maria da Cannaregio using designs by Girolamo Campagna. The latter sculptor completed the statues of Saints Lawrence and Sebastian. Marco Polo was buried there, per his request on his deathbed.

The interior is particularly original, with its large area divided almost in the center by three large arches to separate the enclosure space from the public one. The base of the side arches is closed by a low wall with doors and windows, used as a parlor, and above an elaborate railing (once gilded) the separation ends, but still allows for a perception of airiness. Inside the highest central arch stands the great high altar. The sections of the ceiling corresponding to the two partitions of the plan are divided on the sides into barrel vaults, oriented orthogonally to the building, connected by ribs to the cross vaults of the median band, aligned between the large thermal windows and the central arch; each segment with the only simple ornamentation of a discreet central rose window. The main altar is the only altar surviving one among those of the church.

Church of Santa Maria Formosa
The Church of the Purification of Mary known as Santa Maria. The Church is one of the eight churches built in the 7th century by San Magno, Bishop of Oderzo. Legend has it that the Virgin Mary appeared to him in the form of a well-proportioned matron. The church was built several times over the centuries. Mauro Codussi built on the original Greek cross, the Latin plan with three naves, with the presbytery flanked by two minor chapels on each side, and large chapels on the sides of the minor aisles made more airy by the large lateral mullioned windows with which they communicate with each other and with the transept. Inside, the Brunelleschi theme of the gray stone architectural elements that stand out on the white plasters was taken up.

The facade with a classical appearance, it is divided into three parts by bundles of mirrored Corinthian half-pillars placed in pairs on high bases and closed, above the high entablature, a large tympanum crowned by vase-shaped acroterae. The north facing facade divided on two levels, the first is five-part by a minor order of Ionic pilasters that enclose blind arches on the sides. The second level is connected to the first by the two Corinthian and mirrored pillars of the major order on which the tympanum is set. The baroque bell tower was built in 1668 on a project by Francesco Zucconi. It has a central nave and aisles, a choir, transepts with cross vaults and a hemispherical dome. The church also houses some wonderful paintings by Bartolomeo Vivarini, Palma the Younger and Palma the Elder.

Cannaregio district

Church of Sant’Alvise
The church of Sant’Alvise is a religious building in the city of Venice, the church dedicated to San Ludovico da Tolosa. It underwent a major renovation in the 17th century, which largely changed its interior. Built in simple Gothic modules, with a basilica plan. The façade is very simple, there are six slightly protruding pilasters, connected by ogival arches that follow the entire crowning. The Istrian stone portal is enriched by a statue of the saint in Greek marble, attributed to Bartolomeo Bon. The bell tower has kept its original 14th century Gothic appearance. It has terracotta with a cusp in pine cone and with spiers at the corners. The convent of the nuns on the right side was originally formed by two cloisters, of which now only one remains intact, and by a portico with Gothic style columns and round arches. In modern times the convent has been occupied by the Daughters of Charity.

Statues, altars and seventeenth-century marbles decorate the walls. Noteworthy is the large flat ceiling fresco made by Piero Antonio Torri and Pietro Ricchi in the years following 1674. To make this church even more beautiful the presence of the barco, the typical hanging choir, supported by two filiform columns and Gothic barbican. Another very beautiful aspect are the wrought iron grates behind which the nuns were hidden. Below, to the left of the boat, there are eight tablets depicting biblical episodes, attributed to Lazzaro Bastiani. The most prestigious works of the church are three paintings by Giambattista Tiepolo executed between 1737 and 1740: Crowning with thorns and Flagellation on the right aisle and Ascent on Mount Calvary on a wall of the presbytery. The painting by Angelo Trevisani Oration of Christ placed in front of this last painting. On the eighteenth-century altar in polychrome marble on the left wall there are three statues attributed to Giovanni Maria Morlaiter.

Church of the Madonna dell’Orto
The church of the Madonna dell’Orto is a religious building in Venice, one of the emblematic places of Venetian Gothic architecture. The complex is defined on the sides by two columns leaning against the wall with Corinthian capitals. The capitals and shelves corresponding to the herringbone motif support a molded frame / architrave with plant motifs. The courses of niches with the statues of the apostles framing the wings. The large rose window was designed by Bartolomeo Bon as well as the portal. The portal, developed around a squared opening, presents a crescendo of refined moldings: the internal edge is edged with a twisted motif while at the edge of the jamb there is a herringbone motif enriched by repeated symbols of St. Christopher; the whole is enclosed in a first mixtilinear white and pink frame with a serrated border. The decoration is completed by the three top statues. The symbols of St. Christopher mentioned,, they were integrated with the eighteenth-century statues representing Prudence, Charity, Faith, Hope, and Temperance, taken from the demolished church of Santo Stefano in Murano.

The interior has a basilica plan, with three naves, with pointed double-frame arches. What makes this church famous all over the world are the ten canvases by Jacopo Tintoretto. On the left side, the only surviving element of the convent, four funeral chapels of some important families have been opened. Starting from the entrance, one encounters the Valier chapel, of refined Renaissance architecture. Followed by the Vendramin chapel and the Morosini chapel, in Gothic style by the architects Giovanni and Bartolomeo Bon. The sequence ends with the elegant Contarini chapel. On the right side of the church are the side altars and an important funerary monument. The ceiling is wooden coffered, the work of the restoration in 1931, but inspired by that of the nearby cloister in the typical style of the Gothic construction of the time.

Scalzi Church
The church of Santa Maria di Nazareth, or church of the Scalzi, is a religious building in the city of Venice from the early 18th century. It was built by Baldassarre Longhena in a single nave, with two side chapels, each in turn flanked by two smaller chapels. After the triumphal arch, the hall enters the presbytery, raised and equipped with a dome. In the apse, you can see the choir of the friars. A major restoration between 1853 and 1862 by the Austrian government. Today it is a national monument. Inside, colored and opulent Corinthian marbles give a feeling of opulence and wonder to the visitor.

The facade with the style of late Venetian Baroque, divided into two orders and punctuated by coupled columns. The four statues of the first order, the Madonna and Child placed on the pediment, and Santa Caterina da Siena in the niche to the left of the Madonna are by Bernardo Falconi. The niche on the right was occupied by a statue of St. Thomas Aquinas by Falconi himself. The work Transport of the Loreto house, a fresco by Giambattista Tiepolo from 1743, was destroyed during an Austrian bombing on 24 October 1915. It was in an attempt to repair this damage that, in the period 1929-1933, Ettore Tito painted two works for the church: a canvas of 100 square meters, and a fresco of 400 square meters. The remains of the Transport of the Loreto house and other surviving fragments of the ceiling are now preserved in the Accademia Galleries, where one of the two sketches (oil on canvas) painted by Tiepolo as preparatory models for the great lost fresco is also kept. There is also a photograph of the ceiling by James Anderson and a copy by Mariano Fortuny at the Correr museum.

Church of Miracles
The church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli is a church site in Venice, it is one of the very first Renaissance- style buildings built in Venice. During the sixteenth century, interventions were carried out on the interiors. In 1997 it underwent a careful restoration, which allowed Venetians and tourists to fully enjoy its artistic beauties. The Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli is almost hidden between two ancient buildings. The facade of the church is completely covered with marble, which, according to tradition, comes from the remains of the works of the Basilica of San Marco. The interior of the church is decorated in shades of pale pink, silver, gray and white and there is still the original bas relief working with mermaids, god Triton, animals, flowers and other images. The “Virgin lives for the saints” is above the church altar. The church has a rectangular structure. The facade overlooks the Campo dei Miracoli.

The lower space still dominated by the “barco”, the singular decoration of the nearby square column that supports the boat, carved by a hand apparently unrelated to the workshop of Pietro Lombardo. The ceiling inserted between the beams dates back to the end of the sixteenth century; Vincenzo Dai Destri from Treviso participated in these works. The canvases in the compartments are paintings from a later period. The interior has a single nave with a barrel vault decorated with gilded coffers, inside the fifty panels there are small panel paintings depicting prophets and patriarchs. The presbytery begins with a steep staircase leading to the mezzanine floor, elegantly decorated with four statues. The large cross of porphyry discs on the back wall draws the gaze upwards, where the stained glass window in the tambour meet. In the stained glass window there is an image of Pietatis, the Christ in the sepulcher.

Church of the Santi Apostoli
The Church of the Holy Apostles of Christ is a religious building in the city of Venice, was built by San Magno, bishop of Oderzo. Jesuit church whose facade is a perfect example of the early 18th century Baroque style. The current building is the result of lots for renovations carried out during the 18th century. Legend has it that the Church was one of the first places in Venice where refugees from the mainland came to live.

The interior consists of a double-tiered nave of pillars, there is a Latin cross shape and the internal columns are surmounted by statues. Immediately on the right the altar with the altarpiece Christ among the Apostles by Sebastiano Santi, circa 1828, follows the fifteenth-century Corner chapel, with very precious marbles and decorations. The altar with the Communion of Saint Lucia by Giambattista Tiepolo, circa 1748, is beautiful. The second altar on the right side houses the altarpiece The Birth of the Virgin, from 1599, by Giovanni Contarini. The main altar with the tabernacle in the shape of a circular temple was designed by Francesco Lazzari. In the two side chapels, the fourteenth-century frescoes have been saved. On the left side altarpieces by Gaspare Diziani and Domenico Maggiotto. The bell tower dates back to 1672 but was finished by Andrea Tirali in the 18th century.

Church of San Marcuola
The church of San Marcuola or church Ermagora saints and Fortunato is a religious building in Venice, it was built for the first time on the island called Lemeneo even between the ninth century and the tenth century, and that it was then destroyed by a fire following an earthquake. It was then in the twelfth century that the current church was re-built, Giorgio Massari managed to finish the internal part as early as 1736, but not the facade of the church, which still remains unfinished.

The first structure was part of the canons of the Romanesque style and had three naves with roof to roof trusses discoveries. The bell tower was built next to the apse. The church now has a single square nave covered by a barrel vault. An octagonal spire was also added during the renovation of the church. The presbytery was obtained from a semicircular apse, which is the conclusion of the beautiful rectangular main chapel, surmounted by an oval dome, supported by four columns. The church offers a large collection of statues by the sculptor Gaetano Susali.

Church of San Giobbe
The church of San Giobbe is a Catholic place of worship in Venice. The church is what remains of the Franciscan convent of San Giobbe and San Bernardino da Siena. A large part of the convent was demolished in 1812. In 1815 the garden was entrusted to the Bavarian gardener Giuseppe Ruchinger. Throughout the twentieth century the complex remained, with modifications and adaptations, operational with production activities (a thermoelectric plant) and distribution of electricity (from the Malnisio Montereale Valcellina power plant) and from the specialized technical units of the Sade group (as the written in marble above the entrance obtained from the walls present in the small square facing the church) and by Enel with its Measurement and Testing Service. The bell tower was finished in 1464 with an open belfry with elegant Gothic mullioned windows in Istrian stone.

The great sculptor Pietro Lombardo was called to embellish the interior. Inside a single nave there is an asymmetry: the left wall is full of chapels while the right part is linear with four altars. This is because on the right side the church rested on the pre-existing convent. The presbytery is preceded by a triumphal arch, surrounded by the statues of the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin of the Annunciation. It is perfectly square in shape and on the sides there are four columns. The whole is dominated by a semi-dome with the statues of the four evangelists, attributed to Pietro Lombardo. In the sacristy there is the oil on panel painting by Andrea Previtali Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Catherine of Alexandria executed in 1504.

Church of the Maddalena
The church of Santa Maria Maddalena is a religious building in the city of Venice, one of the best known examples of neoclassical architecture Venetian. Originated from a religious building erected in 1222, starting from 1763 the church was completely rebuilt, with a circular plan, based on a design by Tommaso Temanza, who shifted its orientation towards the campo. The church has a rather unusual circular plan for Venice (the only other example is that of San Simeon Piccolo), with a hemispherical domed roof, clearly inspired by the architecture of ancient Rome and in particular the Pantheon, of which it recalls the steps outside. The reference also goes to Venetian buildings such as the Salute and San Simeon Piccolo, the latter work of Giovanni Scalfarotto, teacher and uncle of Tommaso Temanza.

There was a great portal architectural value, preceded by a short staircase and formed by a high gable triangular supported by two pairs of columns with capitals and entablature ionic. Above the entrance door there is a lunette with an all-seeing eye within a triangle intertwined with a circle in bas-relief. Inside, the circular plan is transformed into hexagonal with the insertion of four side chapels (the other two sides are formed by the main chapel and the main entrance), framed by round arches. Last Supper by Giandomenico Tiepolo and the Apparition of the Virgin to San Simone Stock by Giuseppe Angeli as well as other 18th century paintings, by the school of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta.

Jesuit Church
The church of Santa Maria Assunt is a religious building in Venic. The façade designed by Rossi is a free interpretation of the Venetian Baroque culture of the early eighteenth century. It is divided into two orders. The movement of the façade is multiplied by the beams of semi-pillars, slightly hollowed, which welcome each column and by the breaking of the high architrave. The upper order, of four simple pillars without capital, is narrowed to the width of the nave by large scrolls and opened in the center by a large window. Crowning is the tympanum slightly out of phase on two vertical planes and surmounted by the dynamic marble group of the Assumption of Mary and angels by Giuseppe Torretto to which adoring angels and cherubs make a spectacular wing. The cornice of the first order supports eight statues on mirrored pedestals corresponding to the columns, which together with the four in the underlying niches, represent the Twelve Apostles. The door, one of the very few surviving originals, a refined structure in embossed and chiseled bronze sheet.

The floor plan is typical of Jesuit churches, with a Latin cross, with three chapels on each side in the longer arm. The flat-bottomed transept and presbytery are flanked by two other chapels. The six chapels on the sides of the nave are separated from each other in small rooms, once dedicated to confessions. The ceilings are decorated with frescoes by Ludovico Dorigny, Musician Angels in Glory. The presbytery is surrounded by statues of cherubs, little angels, angels and archangels ofGiuseppe Torretti. By Jacopo Antonio Pozzo, also known as Giuseppe Pozzo, is the altar, which consists of ten columns surmounted by a white and green dome.

Church of San Giovanni Grisostomo
St. John Chrysostom is a church in Venice, this small church was built in the 11th century in an area of Venice that was already very rich then, as it is now. The facade looks towards the main street while the two walls overlook as many squares. Its plan is a Greek cross, regular, with two naves that intersect perfectly and with the classic four pillars that support the arches on which the hemispherical dome rests. On the flat ceiling there are nine compartments of various sizes in which there is the Holy Father between putti and Cherubini by Giuseppe Diamantini.

The most important work is undoubtedly the altarpiece of the ‘ altar of Giovanni Bellini, the 1513, with Saints Christopher, Jerome and Louis of Toulouse, commissioned by George Beloved July 13 the 1494 in his testament. Also important is a canvas by Sebastiano del Piombo, commissioned, as a testament, by Caterina Contarini and Nicolò Morosini, and shows a very humble and human San Giovanni Crisostomo. On the walls you can admire the translation of of San Giovanni Grisostomo by Zaccaria Facchinetti, 1610. Finally, the marble altarpiece by Tullio Lombardo Coronation of the Virgin among the Apostles, commissioned by the Bernabò de Catenariis family from Montepulciano.

Sanctuary of Lucia
The sanctuary of Lucia is an important building of worship, which houses numerous works of art. The church was built in the 11th century, only to be rebuilt several times. The current building was designed by Carlo Corbellini in 1753. The first mass in the rebuilt church was celebrated on April 27, 1760. The facades on the campo and on the Cannaregio Canal, on the other hand, are from 1861, the year in which the works were finished. In 2018 the church was elevated to a sanctuary. In the church of San Geremia are preserved the mortal remains of one of the best known and venerated saints of Christianity, Saint Lucia, a Syracusan virgin and martyr.

Inside the church, very beautiful and precious is the altar, with its presbytery, in which you can admire the statues of St. Peter the apostle and St. Jeremiah the prophet, dated 1798, by Giovanni Ferrari. In the background the monochrome fresco work by Agostino Mengozzi Colonna Two Angels in Act of Supporting the Globe. The valuable work that appears on the fourth altar, The virgin attends the coronation of Venice by the bishop S. Magno of Palma il Giovane. Notable sculptural works are the Madonna del Rosario by Giovanni Maria Morlaiter and The Immaculate Conception by Giovanni Marchiori. In the church there is a miraculous acheropite sculpture of Christ dating back to the early seventeenth century.

Synagogues

Great German School Synagogue
The Scuola Grande Tedesca, or Scola Grande Tedesca, is the oldest place of Jewish worship in Venice. This and the other synagogues characterize the Venetian ghetto but their presence is discreet because they are hardly recognizable from the outside, blending in with the other buildings. Only by entering do they show the richness of what they keep. The large internal room is asymmetrical and has an elliptical shape. The walls are covered in wood, and the benches are also wooden. On the walls there are various sacred inscriptions and in particular the ten commandments, which are found on the access to the Ark. The pulpit is located in the hall.

The synagogue was the first in Venice, founded between 1528 and 1529, and over the centuries it underwent significant structural changes, particularly in the 18th century. It was then completely renovated in late Baroque style in the 1700s. The school has a trapezoidal shape which makes it unique compared to other rectangular synagogues. The bimah and the Aron Ha-Kodesh are in opposite positions; the bimah was originally placed in the center of the room, but was moved at the beginning of the 19th century to avoid static problems; moving the bimah involved closing two of the 5 windows from the inside, all of which are still visible from the outside. The elliptical women’s gallery fits perfectly into the irregular plan of the synagogue.

Canton School Synagogue
The Canton School is an ancient Jewish place of worship in Venice. The synagogue was the second in Venice, and was founded between 1531 and 1532. Built a few years after the Great German School, it initially imitated the structure then the hall was modified to take on the more traditional forms, with a rectangular, Bimah andAron haQodesh arranged specularly on the smaller walls and the benches arranged along the larger walls. The women’s gallery is located on the upper floor and was completed in 1736. From the outside it is recognizable by the wooden dome of the bimah and, from the side of the canal, by an inscription in Hebrew. This was the first school in Venice to have Aron Ha-Kodesh and bimah in opposite positions. Counters for the faithful are positioned along the long sides of the room.

Over the centuries it underwent significant structural changes, particularly in the Baroque period, during which it assumed a recent appearance. The hall of the synagogue is extremely refined and preserves eight precious eight wooden panels that represent as many significant biblical moments such as the passage of the Red Sea, the Altar of Sacrifices, the Manna and others. The women’s gallery is located above the entrance along one side of the synagogue only. The Baroque style, with aspects of Rococo, as well as probably the location of the women’s gallery, derives from eighteenth-century restoration work.

Italian school Synagogue
The Scola Italiana is an ancient place of Jewish worship in Venice. The synagogue was the third in Venice and was founded in 1575 by the Jewish community of Italian origin. It was the subject of restoration works between the 18th and 19th centuries. The synagogue has a structure that makes it the simplest of those in Venice. It is very bright because the room receives light from five large windows overlooking the Campo del Ghetto Novo.

The plan of the school is rectangular, almost quadrangular, with a bifocal system (Aron and Bimah are in opposite positions). The latter is in a much higher position than the rest of the room. The counters are set against the wall. The women’s gallery is positioned above the entrance on one of the two long sides and dates back to the 1700s as well as the entire decorative system of the synagogue. The Italian school was very important because it hosted the sermons of the famous Rabbi Leone Modena.

Scola Levantina Synagogue
The Scola Levantina represents an ancient place of Jewish worship of the Sephardic rite in Venice. The synagogue was almost certainly founded by the middle of the 16th century and then underwent a reconstruction about a century later. The external elevations are clearly of Longhenian inspiration and, although simple, are more elaborate than in the other schools, with the prominences of the entablatures and volutes in keystone, the mirrors on the walls, the ashlar base, the small ovate windows in the attic, and carved decoration in the doors. Outside you can see a ledge that corresponds to the bimah and some windows that allow lighting. This synagogue is still active for the rite in the cold months.

The plan is rectangular with the Aron and the bimah placed in a bifocal position. The baroque restoration of this synagogue is particularly important. The workshop of the city architect Baldassare Longhena participated in its reconstruction for the structure of the building and the sculptor Andrea Brustolon for its interiors, in particular for the pulpit. On the ground floor there is the Luzzatto school normally used as a study room. Upstairs the bimah, adorned with Solomonic columns with floral decorations, is placed on a base a high plinth. Three windows are accessed from the pulpit floor. Opposite the bimah is the Aron haQodesh which preserves the engravings in memory of the ten commandments. The Hebrew date that is read there is 5542, and corresponds to our year 1782. Here too the women’s gallery is traditionally placed at the top, and in ancient times it was also enclosed by grates. The bimah was inlaid by Andrea Brustolon. The women’s gallery, always in an elevated position, runs along one of the long sides.

Spanish School Synagogue
The Scola Ponentina is an ancient place of Jewish worship of the Sephardic rite in Venice. The synagogue, of Sephardi rite, was founded in 1581 and then underwent an almost complete reconstruction based on a project by the city architect Baldassare Longhena. It is the largest of the Venetian synagogues. It is still used for worship in spring and summer. Located in the campiello delle scole in front of the Levantine Scola, it is recognizable by the windows with colored glass and a large wooden door. The external facade is relatively simple, arranged over three floors.

The access portal is placed in the corner and on the main floor there are four large single-lancet windows with a round arch. The atrium leads to the staircase leading to the floor of the synagogue hall. Traditionally the room has a rectangular plan, with Bimah and Aron haQodesh arranged specularly on the smaller walls and the benches arranged along the larger walls. Scola with a bifocal system is dominated by an elliptical women’s gallery that runs through the entire room. Most likely the Baroque restoration was followed, as in the case of the Levantine School, by the workshop of Baldassare Longhena. The ceiling is richly worked while the floor is made up of white and gray tiles. The interior is enriched by three large chandeliers placed in the center of the room. On the ground floor of the building there are some equipment and furnishings of the ancient Kohanim school, a private synagogue that was once located in the Ghetto Novo.

San Polo district

Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
The basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, the largest church in Venice, a fine example of Venetian Gothic architecture. The plan is a Latin cross, and the style is Venetian Gothic in terracotta and Istrian stone. It has three naves with pointed arches resting on six columns on each side. It measures 102 meters in length, 48 meters in the transept and is 28 meters high; it has 17 monumental altars and inside there are many works of art, including two paintings by Titian. It also houses tombs and funeral monuments of numerous personalities linked to Venice, including Claudio Monteverdi, Titian himself, Antonio Canova, as well as numerous doges.

It was built by the minority monks of the Franciscan order, called the Friars, helped by a donation from the Doge Jacopo Tiepolo. The first version of the church was completed in 1338 and was much smaller than the current one. Other donations from important Venetian families helped the expansion and decoration of the church. However, this church was demolished in the early 15th century to build a new church. The imposing façade is in late Gothic style and is divided into three parts by pillars surmounted in the Venetian-Byzantine style. The interior is equally magnificent, and you can admire the grandiose altarpiece of the Assumption and the Madonna di Ca ‘Pesaro painted by Titian, as well as a triptych by Giovanni Bellini.

San Giacomo di Rialto
The church of San Giacomo di Rialto is a religious building in the city of Venice. This church is perhaps the oldest church in Venice built around 421. It was built thanks to the faith and talent of a Cretan carpenter, around the 5th century, even when the first people settled on this group of islands. It is best known for its 15th-century clock above the church entrance. It is also recognized for the red pillars and gorgeous gold accents around the church itself. The church is very small, but very beautiful. The exterior with the bell gable, the large clock (useful for the market, which took place opposite) and the Gothic portico, one of the last examples of its kind left in the city. The interior follows the traditional cross pattern with a central dome, later imitated in the Renaissance.

Church of San Rocco
The San Rocco church is a religious building, built by Bartolomeo Bon between 1489 and 1508 to house the remains of its titular saint, the beautiful Church of San Rocco received a Baroque reconstruction between 1765 and 1771, which included a large portal surrounded by the statues of Giovanni Marchiori. Bon’s pink window has been moved to the side of the church, near the architect’s original side door. On the sides of the main altar there are four enormous paintings by Tintoretto depicting the life of San Rocco.

The four niches of the façade house as many statues of Venetian saints and blessed: in the lower register Gerardo Sagredo and Pietro Orseolo by Giovanni Marchiori, in the upper register Lorenzo Giustiniani and Gregorio Barbarigo by Giovanni Maria Morlaiter. Between the two statues of the upper register is the imposing relief with San Rocco heals the plague victims always by Morlaiter. Crowning the attic is the statue of San Rocco flanked by other statues of Venetian saints, Pietro Acotanto and Jacopo Salomonio. On the bezel of the doorSan Rocco carried up to heaven by angels, a modern bronze copy of the original by Marchiori walled up in the right apsidal chapel.

Church of San Polo
The church of San Paolo apostolo vulgo San Polo is a religious building in the city of Venice. According to ancient chronicles, the church was probably built in 837, at the behest of Doge Pietro Tradonico and his son Giovanni co-regent. Starting from 1804 until the rededication of 1839, the church underwent the heavy interventions designed by David Rossi: on that occasion the columns of the central nave were replaced, some openings closed to open others and to give them a neoclassical layout. The restorations of the recent 1930 have partly restored the fifteenth-century elements, in particular the ship hull ceiling. Incorporated by other modest buildings, part of the apse facing the homonymous field and the sides remain visible.

Along the right side there is the large late Gothic portal by the workshop of Bartolomeo Bon adorned with two angels holding cartouche on the entablature and culminating in the floron holding a half figure of St. Paul beyond the eaves line. Later in the narrowest part of salizada the classical facade of the Oratory of the Cross, refined structure marked by Corinthian columns with openings type serliana. The original rose window on the ancient facade is barely visible from the adjacent Corte del Cafetier. Over time some marble works were walled up here and there on the outside: the most recent is the neoclassical aedicule with the statue of St. Paul in the center of the main apse; on the left, on the minor apsidal chapel, the fifteenth-century aedicule of the Scuola del Santissimo Sacramento is surmounted by a baroque drapery; on the walls of the old rectory that incorporate the other apse chapel are two primitive bas-reliefs, the upper one with the Baptism of Christ, the lower one with the Madonna and Child enthroned with Saints Demetrius and Peter.

Church of Sant’Aponal
The church of Sant’Aponal is a deconsecrated Roman Catholic church in the sestiere of San Polo in Venice, Italy. The church was founded in the 11th century, by refugees from Ravenna and dedicated to St Apollinare. Restored over the centuries, it underwent major reconstruction in the 15th century. The facade retains the original Gothic features, such as the bell tower. The interior is the result of an eighteenth-century renovation. A small side entrance made it accessible from the Rialto ruga. The parish functions were interrupted in the mid-twentieth century. The façade was adorned with a marble decoration in high relief returned to its original seat in the church of Sant’Elena after its reactivation. It was re-closed in 1984, and is now mainly an archive. The facade retains bits of gothic architecture decoration.

Santa Croce district

Church of San Giacomo dall’Orio
The church of Saint James of Orio is a religious building in the city of Venice, located in the district of Santa Croce. Probably founded in the 9-10 century, one among the oldest churches in Venice. The charm of this church consists of a gloomy and archaic exterior and interior, dominated by the warm presence of wood. The interior is characterized by the superimposition of various architectural styles, linked to the interventions that followed one another over time: the bell tower and the basilica plan with three naves remain of the thirteenth-century building, while the ” ship hull ” roof is Gothic and the decorations of the main altar and the central nave are Lombard. In particular, the ceiling uses the shipbuilding techniques typical of the Venice Arsenal.There are also a number of paintings such as Lorenzo Lotto’s high altar “The Virgin Mary and Child with the Apostles and Saints” (1546), which is one of the few works by the artist that can still be found in Venice.

Other important works are preserved in the sacristies, in particular in the New Sacristy at the side of the presbytery there are works by Paolo Veronese; Allegory of Faith, in the center of the ceiling, the Four Doctors of the Church on the sides and the altarpiece San Lorenzo, San Giuliano and San Prospero, dated 1573 and originally used as an altarpiece for the chapel of San Lorenzo. The painting San Sebastiano between San Rocco and San Lorenzo by Giovanni Buonconsiglio dominates the door of the sacristy, a work carried out between 1498 and 1500 which previously adorned the altar of the church of San Sebastiano.Also in the Old Sacristy there are several canvases by Jacopo Palma the Younger, dating back to 1575: The Virgin and the Saints, The Punishment of the Snake, The Gathering of Manna, Elijah and an Angel, Jewish Easter Sacrifice, The passage of the Red Sea and the ceiling The Blessed Sacrament adored by the four Evangelists.

Church of San Simeone Piccolo
The church was allegedly founded in the 9th century by the Adoldiand Briosi families. It is one of the best-known churches in the city, as it clearly stands out from the other buildings. The building is often referred to as a Venetian re-edition of the Pantheon in Rome, that’s why it has a large dome with a statue of San Salvatore on top. One of the churches where they celebrate the Tridentine Mass on Sundays. It is also recognized for its dome because it is used to make the church appear taller than it is and the dome itself is entirely covered in lead plates. The building has long been used as an auditorium for concerts.

The building looks like a cylindrical and narrow body with a dome covered in copper and a Corinthian pronaos with triangular tympanum where there is a marble bas-relief The martyrdom of the titular saints by Francesco Cabianca of the XVIII century. The dome has an oval shape in height which gives the complex a slight vertical thrust accentuated by the lantern in the shape of a small temple. The interior does not host great masterpieces. Under the church there is an interesting basement frescoed with scenes from the Via Crucis and the Old Testament, in which two long corridors intersect in an octagonal room, which has an altar in the middle. It includes twenty-one chapels, eight of which are walled up and unexplored.

San Stae Church
Built in the eighth century, the church of San Stae is a place of worship catholic of Venice.The church is part of the Chorus Venezia association. At the end of the seventeenth century the church, although repeatedly restored, was dilapidated. The church was re-built at the request of Doge Alvise Mocenigo around 1709 to serve as a family crypt and was decorated in late Baroque style and is dedicated to San Eustachio. The biggest decision was to change the orientation of the church: no longer the traditional one towards the east but with a more modern spirit scenographically facing the Grand Cana.

The facade is rich in marble decorations and inside there are numerous paintings. The sculptors who made these decorations were Tarsia, Torretto, Baratta and Groppelli. The architect and builder of the interior of the church was Giovanni Grassi. The church has a central sector, a vaulted ceiling and three chapels on each side. The ceiling above the choir area is one of the most beautiful features of the church, with a beautiful painting that adds color and brightness to the building.

Church of San Nicola da Tolentino
The church of San Nicola da Tolentino called I Tolentini is a 16th-17th century Catholic place of worship in the city of Venice. The church was designed and built by Vincenzo Scamozzi between 1591 and 1602. Later Andrea Tirali added to the unfinished facade, a pronaos with a tympanum and six Corinthian columns (1706-1714). The church houses the organ built by Pietro Nachini in 1754 almost completely intact, located in a wooden choir loft in the apse decorated with two winged cherubs in gilded wood on the sides. The instrument case has chiseled wood decorations depicting two sheets descending from the center of the tympanum that overlooks the case ending in the lateral wings of the instrument; to this finely painted gold-colored decoration hang wooden sculptures of wind instruments and original ancient stringed instruments of fine craftsmanship, also painted in gold.

The interior of the church is decorated with 17th century paintings. There are preserved works by Jacopo Palma il Giovane and Padovanino. The doges Giovanni I Corner, Francesco Corner, Giovanni II Corner and Paolo Renier are buried here. The funeral monument of the patriarch Gianfrancesco Morosini was made by the Genoese sculptor Filippo Parodi. The Roman-style altar in polychrome marble commissaries, with the large tabernacle in the shape of a small temple as an allegory of the Holy Sepulcher, was designed by Baldassarre Longhena. The two adoring angels and six caryatid angels are by Giusto Le Court.

Church of San Rocco
The San Rocco church is a religious building located in Campo San Rocco, in the district of San Polo in Venice. When in 1489 it decided to move permanently near the Frari, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco decided to erect a church to be dedicated to their titular saint. Between 1726 and 1732 the church was radically restructured on a project by Giovanni Scalfarotto who replaced the flat ceiling with a vault interrupted by large thermal windows, only the old apses and the dome were preserved.

The beginning of the works on the facade dates back to 1756. The four niches of the façade house as many statues of Venetian saints and blessed: in the lower register Gerardo Sagredo and Pietro Orseolo by Giovanni Marchiori, in the upper register Lorenzo Giustiniani and Gregorio Barbarigo by Giovanni Maria Morlaiter. Between the two statues of the upper register is the imposing relief with San Rocco heals the plague victims always by Morlaiter. Crowning the attic is the statue of San Rocco flanked by other statues of Venetian saints, Pietro Acotanto and Jacopo Salomonio. On the bezel of the doorSan Rocco carried up to heaven by angels, a modern bronze copy of the original by Marchiori walled up in the right apsidal chapel.

Dorsoduro district

Church of Santa Maria della Salute
On 22 October 1630, during the plague epidemic that hit Venice, Doge Nicolò Contarini publicly declared that a church would be built in the name of the Salute as an oath to put an end to the calamity. A year later, in 1631, the plague epidemic ended and in 1687 the Basilica was completed. For the construction of the church 11 projects were proposed, of which Baldassarre Longhena was chosen.

The project included an enormous facade reminiscent of palladium, with a beautiful door in the center. The façade was raised with a series of stairs to give the church an even greater grandeur. The interior has a central area on an octagonal plane. On the sides there is an equal number of arches divided by columns. There are numerous works of art: Pentecoste, San Rocco and San Sebastiano, Davide and Golia, Cain and Abel by Titian; The marriage of Tintoretto and Iona at Cana of Galilee and Samson of Palma the Younger. In Venetian Baroque style.

The Jesuits (Santa Maria del Rosario)
The largest 18th century cathedral complex in Venice, built between 1726 and 1735 for the Dominicans to replace the church, which has become too small for the faithful. Giorgio Massari was the architect who designed the church in Venetian Rococo style and the interior decoration in collaboration with two great artists of the time: Giambattista Tiepolo and Gian Maria Morlaiter. These three have become famous over time for the wonderful work they have done here. The church is dedicated to the Madonna del Rosario, represented in the ceiling fresco by Tiepolo.

Church of San Barnaba
Erected in 809 by the Adorni / Adami family, it was destroyed by the fire of 1105, but thanks to the offerings of the faithful it was rededicated in 1350.

Church of San Raffaele Arcangelo
According to a popular tradition, it was raised for the first time in 416, and during the following centuries it was destroyed and rebuilt several times, up to the last consecration which dates back to 1740.

Church of San Sebastiano
Antonio Scarpignano’s rather rigorous 1508-48 facade creates a feeling of deceptively modesty in this church. The interior is decorated, from floor to ceiling, by Paolo Veronese’s masterpieces, created over three decades. According to a local popular legend, Veronese found refuge in San Sebastiano in 1555 after fleeing the murder charge in Verona, and his work in this church is a thank you to the parish. Veronese has decided to be buried here, under his masterpieces: his commemorative bust is to the right of the body.

Church of San Trovaso
The church of San Trovaso (Venetian contraction indicating the saints Gervasio and Protasio) is a religious building in the city of Venice located in the district of Dorsoduro, in the field of the same name. The church was built in the early days after the foundation of Venice, and immediately became a parish church. It was rebuilt in 1028 by the Barbarigo and Caravella families.

A singular feature of the building is the double façade, one facing the Campo San Trovaso and the other facing the homonymous stream. According to tradition, the double entrance was used to keep the rival factions of Castellani and Nicolotti separate, when both went to church on the occasion of the feast of the saints, in order to avoid the outbreak of fights.

Church of Santa Maria dei Carmini
The church of Santa Maria dei Carmini, also called Santa Maria del Carmelo or commonly “i Carmini” is a church in Venice, located in the Dorsoduro district and overlooking Campo dei Carmini. The style is that of a typically Gothic building which, due to numerous subsequent interventions, has undergone changes. The plant has an elongated basilica shape, with three naves with a transept and a deep presbytery, on the sides of which chapels have been placed.

The façade is in Renaissance style with three curvilinear pediments, attributed to Sebastiano da Lugano (1507-1514). On the crown you can admire the statues of the Redeemer, the Archangel Gabriel, the Virgin and Saints Elia and Eliseo, attributed to Giovanni Buora. The ancient bell tower, located next to the church, was rebuilt in 1676 by Giuseppe Sardi. The square belfry is surmounted by an octagonal temple, on top of which is placed the statue of the Madonna del Carmelo, a copy of the original destroyed by lightning in 1979.

Church of San Nicolò dei Mendicoli
The church of San Nicolo dei Mendicoli or the Beggar is a religious building in the city of Venice, located in the district of Dorsoduro. The church of San Nicolò dei Mendicoli is one of the oldest in Venice: it is assumed that a first building already existed in the seventh century. The building from the 7th century was replaced by the current church from the 13th century, with a Romanesque basilica plan with three naves. This second building was also extensively remodeled over time, both on the outside, with the addition in the 15th century of a small portico on the northern side, and on the inside, very rich, where in the 16th century the central nave was decorated with gilded wood statues.

Other churches may be more majestic, but none are more Venetian than this 12th-century church with a history of service to the poor. It once served as a shelter for women, and its portico protected the Mendicoli (beggars) to whom it owes its name. The tiny and picturesque campo (piazza) outside is a miniature Venice, surrounded on three sides by canals and depicting a column with the lion of San Marco. The dark interior is illuminated by an 18th century gilded portico and many bright paintings, including Giovanni Palma’s masterpiece “Resurrection” (1610) behind, to the left of the organ. The right front chapel is a typical Venetian response to Rome’s insistent orders to limit music in Venetian churches: Madonna in Gloria, fully enjoying the concert of angels on flutes, lutes and violins.

Giudecca district

Basilica of the Redeemer
The Basilica del Redentore, also known as the votive church of the Santissimo Redentore or more simply as the Redentore, is an important religious building in Venice. It is traditionally the fulcrum of the great feast of the Redeemer, celebrated on the third Sunday of July in memory of the narrow escape from the plague that struck the city in 1575. The church of Saints Peter and Paul in Villafranca di Verona is an almost identical copy of the church of the Redentore. The church is part of the Chorus Venezia association.

It was built between 1577 and 1592 on a project by Andrea Palladio. This religious monument was a sign of thanks for the end of the terrible plague that in 1576 caused the death of a third of the city population, including Doge Sebastiano Venier himself. The Feast of the Redeemer is celebrated annually there. The interior is valuable and full of paintings by the greatest Venetian painters. In the sacristy there are paintings by Paolo Veronese. The best overall view can be had from the Fondamenta delle Zattere, the long quay south of the Dorsoduro district.

Church of the Zitelle
The church of Santa Maria della Presentation, commonly known as the Zitelle, is a religious building in the city of Venice located at the eastern end of the Giudecca island. Palladian church which, in addition to normal religious functions, also houses a modern congress center.

The church is consecrated to the presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is part of a complex including a former hospice for young girls without a dowry. The building adjacent to the church was once used as a convent for poor girls who could learn traditional women’s work here, such as the art of the famous Venetian lace.

Church of Sant’Eufemia.
The church of Sant’Eufemia, is a religious building in the city of Venice on the Giudecca island. The church of Sant’Eufemia was built in the 9th century in the Venetian-Byzantine style. It underwent numerous restorations, the most recent an eighteenth-century intervention that significantly modified the facade and the interior where stuccos were applied both in the central nave and in the vaults of the ceiling.

The church is one of the oldest in Venice, and despite the simplicity of the exterior, it contains works of art of great importance. In the chapel of Sant’Anna the body of the blessed Giuliana di Collalto is venerated, who in the thirteenth century was abbess of the nearby monastery of Santi Biagio and Cataldo.

Church of Saints Biagio and Cataldo
The church of Santi Biagio e Cataldo was a religious building in the city of Venice, located in the westernmost part of the Giudecca island. The church underwent two renovations. The first intervention took place at the end of the 16th century by Michele Sanmicheli; during these works the church was radically restructured, the hanging choir was demolished and its columns were relocated in the portico of the nearby church of Sant’Eufemia. The second important intervention was carried out at the beginning of the 18th century by the architects Domenico Rossi and Giorgio Massari and the works mainly concerned the interiors, altars and paintings.

The church with the adjoining monastery remained active until 1810, when they were definitively suppressed following the Napoleonic decrees. Purchased by private individuals, the church and convent were first used as a hospital complex, then demolished in the second half of the nineteenth century and the Molino Stucky industrial complex was built on the area.