The Churches of Venice
The Church of Saint Roch (Chiesa di San Rocco)
dedicated to Saint Rocco as a vote to save the city from the first plague in the 15th century. The project and the built was made by Bartolomeo Bon, the works ended rapidly in 1494, and the Church was consecrated lately in 1508. It is composed by a single nave, one presbytery and two lateral chapels restructured a few times. Between 1765 and 1771 the façade has been completely modified by Bernardino Accarezzi that made it more resembling to the School one. Of the original building only the main door and the rosette remain. The ashes of the saint are guarded inside and on August 16th, during his celebration day, a covered wooden structure to link the School and the Church together is built. This was made in memory of the vote made by the city to be saved from the plague. Inside the church there are many artworks, paintings by Tintoretto, the saint Rocco’s statue and the monument by Pellegrino Baselli Grillo. more at: www.venice-tourism.com
The Church of Saint Roch (Chiesa di San Rocco)
dedicated to Saint Rocco as a vote to save the city from the first plague in the 15th century. The project and the built was made by Bartolomeo Bon, the works ended rapidly in 1494, and the Church was consecrated lately in 1508. It is composed by a single nave, one presbytery and two lateral chapels restructured a few times. Between 1765 and 1771 the façade has been completely modified by Bernardino Accarezzi that made it more resembling to the School one. Of the original building only the main door and the rosette remain. The ashes of the saint are guarded inside and on August 16th, during his celebration day, a covered wooden structure to link the School and the Church together is built. This was made in memory of the vote made by the city to be saved from the plague. Inside the church there are many artworks, paintings by Tintoretto, the saint Rocco’s statue and the monument by Pellegrino Baselli Grillo. more at: www.venice-tourism.com
St. Mary of the Friars (Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari)
is one of the greatest churches of Venice. It stands on the Campo dei Frari at the heart of the San Polo district of the city. The church is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary (Assunzione della Beata Virgine) and is notable for its many masterpieces of Venetian Renaissance art and monuments to Renaissance sculptors and artists. Built in 1338. The imposing Frari is built of brick in the Italian Gothic style. The exterior is deliberately plain in accordance with the Franciscan emphasis on poverty and austerity. The interior is light and spacious. It contains the only rood screen still in place in Venice and many excellent examples of Renaissance art. more at: www.sacred-destinations.com
is one of the greatest churches of Venice. It stands on the Campo dei Frari at the heart of the San Polo district of the city. The church is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary (Assunzione della Beata Virgine) and is notable for its many masterpieces of Venetian Renaissance art and monuments to Renaissance sculptors and artists. Built in 1338. The imposing Frari is built of brick in the Italian Gothic style. The exterior is deliberately plain in accordance with the Franciscan emphasis on poverty and austerity. The interior is light and spacious. It contains the only rood screen still in place in Venice and many excellent examples of Renaissance art. more at: www.sacred-destinations.com
Church of Santissimo Redentore (Chiesa del Redentore)
is one of Venice's two famous plague churches. The city was so vulnerable to disease that it erected these magnificent churches in supplication and in thanks for relief. This Renaissance church by Andrea Palladio dates back to a sixteenth-century bout of plague, during which the Venetian senate made a vow to dedicate a grand church to Christ the Redeemer. Il Redentore, as it is known, was built on the island of the Giudecca, where it exchanges fine views across the water with St. Mark's and the Zattere. The church was deliberately sited where it would become part of the skyline seen from the main part of Venice. Its dazzlingly clean white façade stands solid and elegant in its classical calm, surmounted by a large dome between small towers, topped with a statue of Christ the Redeemer. more at: www.italyheaven.co.uk
is one of Venice's two famous plague churches. The city was so vulnerable to disease that it erected these magnificent churches in supplication and in thanks for relief. This Renaissance church by Andrea Palladio dates back to a sixteenth-century bout of plague, during which the Venetian senate made a vow to dedicate a grand church to Christ the Redeemer. Il Redentore, as it is known, was built on the island of the Giudecca, where it exchanges fine views across the water with St. Mark's and the Zattere. The church was deliberately sited where it would become part of the skyline seen from the main part of Venice. Its dazzlingly clean white façade stands solid and elegant in its classical calm, surmounted by a large dome between small towers, topped with a statue of Christ the Redeemer. more at: www.italyheaven.co.uk
Basilica of St. Mary of Health (Santa Maria della Salute)
built in the seventeenth century on a narrow strip of land near the Grand Canal. The church was proposed in 1630 by the Venetian Senate in response to a particularly terrible wave of the plague, which had already killed about a third of the city's population. The Salute is octagonal in shape and sits on a platform of 100,000 wooden piles. It is constructed of Istrian stone and a marble-dust-covered brick known as marmorino. Though classic in design, it contains some Byzantine elements. Inside, the high altar arrangement is Baroque in style. more at: www.aviewoncities.com
built in the seventeenth century on a narrow strip of land near the Grand Canal. The church was proposed in 1630 by the Venetian Senate in response to a particularly terrible wave of the plague, which had already killed about a third of the city's population. The Salute is octagonal in shape and sits on a platform of 100,000 wooden piles. It is constructed of Istrian stone and a marble-dust-covered brick known as marmorino. Though classic in design, it contains some Byzantine elements. Inside, the high altar arrangement is Baroque in style. more at: www.aviewoncities.com
Saint Apostles Church (Chiesa dei Santi Apostoli)
This is supposedly one of the churches founded by San Magno (St Magnus) the Bishop of Oderzo, in 643, and built on a site where he saw twelve cranes, after an apparition of the twelve Apostles told him to look for this sign. A plain façade with the more attractive side view dominated by the campanile and the domed exterior of the Corner Chapel. Interior: A big dark box. Which all goes to throw into relief the lovely Corner chapel, the work of Giovanni Battista Castello. A bright and stony sanctuary, it's all that's left of the 16th Century church and was built (probably to a design by Codussi) for poor old Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus who was buried here in 1510. more at: www.churchesofvenice.co.uk
This is supposedly one of the churches founded by San Magno (St Magnus) the Bishop of Oderzo, in 643, and built on a site where he saw twelve cranes, after an apparition of the twelve Apostles told him to look for this sign. A plain façade with the more attractive side view dominated by the campanile and the domed exterior of the Corner Chapel. Interior: A big dark box. Which all goes to throw into relief the lovely Corner chapel, the work of Giovanni Battista Castello. A bright and stony sanctuary, it's all that's left of the 16th Century church and was built (probably to a design by Codussi) for poor old Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus who was buried here in 1510. more at: www.churchesofvenice.co.uk
San Giovanni Grisostomo Church (Chiesa di San Giovanni Grisostomo)
is one of the very few in Western Europe named for the 5th Century patriarch of Constantinople, reflecting the strength of the Byzantine influence in Venice when the first church on the site was built in 1080. The interior is compact, cosy and welcoming, but usually noisey from the busy outside. A Greek cross plan ringed by apses, the pleasing proportions derive from Platonic ideals of perfect geometric form and balance. more at: www.churchesofvenice.co.uk
is one of the very few in Western Europe named for the 5th Century patriarch of Constantinople, reflecting the strength of the Byzantine influence in Venice when the first church on the site was built in 1080. The interior is compact, cosy and welcoming, but usually noisey from the busy outside. A Greek cross plan ringed by apses, the pleasing proportions derive from Platonic ideals of perfect geometric form and balance. more at: www.churchesofvenice.co.uk
Santa Maria dei Miracoli Church (Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Miracoli)
Tucked away at a charming canal crossing in a quiet corner northeast of the Rialto Bridge in Venice, the small 15th-century Santa Maria dei Miracoli is an early Renaissance church covered in polychrome marble. A canal runs along one side of the church, creating attractive reflections. In 1470s Venice, an icon of the Virgin Mary was credited for a varieity of miracles, including bringing back to life someone who spent half an hour at the bottom of the Giudecca Canal. The reported miracles attracted many pilgrims, who eventually left enough donations to fund the building of the church. Built in the 1480s to a design by Pietro Lombardo (c.1435-1515), a local artisan whose background in monuments and tombs is obvious in his work. Lombardo would go on to become one of the founding fathers of the Venetian Renaissance. Tiny yet perfectly proportioned, this early Renaissance gem has a picturesque location on a small square alongside a canal, making it a favorite venue for weddings. Gondolas drop off and pick up the newlyweds. The exterior is covered in polychrome marble, extra pilasters and offset arcade windows, all of which create an illusion of greater size. The unique effect is admired by many, but some compare it less favorably to an oversized tomb with a dome. The elegant interior of is intricately decorated with pink, white and grey marble and early Renaissance marble reliefs. more at: www.sacred-destinations.com
Tucked away at a charming canal crossing in a quiet corner northeast of the Rialto Bridge in Venice, the small 15th-century Santa Maria dei Miracoli is an early Renaissance church covered in polychrome marble. A canal runs along one side of the church, creating attractive reflections. In 1470s Venice, an icon of the Virgin Mary was credited for a varieity of miracles, including bringing back to life someone who spent half an hour at the bottom of the Giudecca Canal. The reported miracles attracted many pilgrims, who eventually left enough donations to fund the building of the church. Built in the 1480s to a design by Pietro Lombardo (c.1435-1515), a local artisan whose background in monuments and tombs is obvious in his work. Lombardo would go on to become one of the founding fathers of the Venetian Renaissance. Tiny yet perfectly proportioned, this early Renaissance gem has a picturesque location on a small square alongside a canal, making it a favorite venue for weddings. Gondolas drop off and pick up the newlyweds. The exterior is covered in polychrome marble, extra pilasters and offset arcade windows, all of which create an illusion of greater size. The unique effect is admired by many, but some compare it less favorably to an oversized tomb with a dome. The elegant interior of is intricately decorated with pink, white and grey marble and early Renaissance marble reliefs. more at: www.sacred-destinations.com
Santa Maria Formosa Church (Chiesa di Santa Maria Formosa)
Tradition has it that the Virgin Mary appeared to San Magno (St Magnus) Bishop of Oderzo, in the form of a buxom (formosa in Italian) woman and told him to build her a church under a white cloud. And so this, the first church in Venice dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was built, some time in the 7th Century by the Tribuno family. The first certain documentation concerns rebuilding in 1060. more at: www.churchesofvenice.co.uk
Tradition has it that the Virgin Mary appeared to San Magno (St Magnus) Bishop of Oderzo, in the form of a buxom (formosa in Italian) woman and told him to build her a church under a white cloud. And so this, the first church in Venice dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was built, some time in the 7th Century by the Tribuno family. The first certain documentation concerns rebuilding in 1060. more at: www.churchesofvenice.co.uk
St. Zacharias Church (Chiesa di San Zaccaria)
It is considered to be one of the most important works of the Venetian Renaissance. However, the bell tower (campanile) is Byzantine in style and the choir is Gothic. Named for the father of St. John the Baptist, St. Zacharias Church (San Zaccaria) is situated at a quiet square not far from the waterfront. The original church, which sat at the same site, was built in the ninth century. The current St. Zacharias Church was built between the years 1444 and 1515. more at: www.aviewoncities.com
It is considered to be one of the most important works of the Venetian Renaissance. However, the bell tower (campanile) is Byzantine in style and the choir is Gothic. Named for the father of St. John the Baptist, St. Zacharias Church (San Zaccaria) is situated at a quiet square not far from the waterfront. The original church, which sat at the same site, was built in the ninth century. The current St. Zacharias Church was built between the years 1444 and 1515. more at: www.aviewoncities.com
San Francesco della Vigna Church (Chiesa di San Francesco della Vigna)
It is one of the nicest Renaissance Churches in Venice. The name derives from the vineyards that in 1500 were cultivated within the Monastery. The first stone was laid by Doge Andrea Gritti in 1534. The building was started by Jacopo Sansovino and was completed in 1554. The façade, instead, was in charge of Palladio in 1564. It was probably thanks to Daniele Barbaro, just like its first job beside the Basilica of Castello, that he was assigned this task. more at: www.venice-tourism.com
It is one of the nicest Renaissance Churches in Venice. The name derives from the vineyards that in 1500 were cultivated within the Monastery. The first stone was laid by Doge Andrea Gritti in 1534. The building was started by Jacopo Sansovino and was completed in 1554. The façade, instead, was in charge of Palladio in 1564. It was probably thanks to Daniele Barbaro, just like its first job beside the Basilica of Castello, that he was assigned this task. more at: www.venice-tourism.com