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Opening: from Monday to Saturday 10am-5pm. Closed on Sunday
The churches of Venice contain one of the most extraordinary treasures of art in the world. One thousand years of history and faith speak though their walls, and through the paintings, sculptures, goldsmith's works and precious fabrics preserved in these fascinating edifices.
Chorus helps in the preservation and enhancement of this immense patrimony and encourage its knowledge by means of a museum circuit that covers fifteen among the most important examples of Venetian religious architecture.
CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DEL GIGLIO
 This ancient church was founded in the 9th century, but the present building is the result of reconstructing during the second half of the 17th century. The work of Giuseppe Sardi, the church façade is one of the most original and imaginative expressions of Baroque art in Venice.
The ceiling of the single nave interior is decorated with large canvasses by Antonio Zanchi, and on the inside wall of the church hang various fine paintings, including a noteworthy Via Crucis. Another painting worthy of mention is Peter Paur Rubens' Madonna and Child and St. John the Baptist the only Venetian work by the Flemish artist. The church also contains J. Tintoretto's fine Four Evangelists (which now hang behind the altar), along with works by Alessandro Vittoria, Sebastiano Ricci, Giambattista Piazzetta, Palma il Giovane and Gian Maria Morlaiter.
CHURCH OF SANTO STEFANO
 After the Frari and the Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Santo Stefano is the third largest monastery church in Venice.
Built by the Augustinian Hermits in the 13 th century, it was re-structured a century later, and subsequent embellishments made it into one of the finest examples of Venetian Flamboyant Gothic.
The space inside is divided into central nave and two side aisles by robust columns ending in elegant Gothic arches. The "keel" roof is particularly striking; and in the Presbytery there are fine Choirstalls in inlaid wood dating from 1488.
The Sacristy contains a veritable museum of work by some of the great names in Venetian Renaissance art (Jacopo Tintoretto, Paris Bordone, Bartolomeo Vivarini and Tullio Lombardo).
There are also several other works of 15th-century sculpture by pupils of the Lombardo School.
CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA FORMOSA
 The Church of Santa Maria Formosa built in 1492, is Mauro Codussi's architectural masterpiece.
One of the works of art in the church which should not be missed is the St. Barbara polyptych by Jacopo Palma il Vecchio (1523 ca.); located in the Chapel of the Scuola dei Bombardieri, this was the work which first made the artist a name within the city. Opposite it, hangs Leandro Bassano's sombre Last Supper (end of the 16th century); whilst in the Chapel of the Conception you can see the famous Triptych of the Madonna of Mercy (1473), which reveals the clear influence the style of Mantegna had on the Murano artist Bartolomeo Vivarini.
In the church's Oratory there is a Madonna with Child painted by the 18th-century artist Giandomenico Tiepolo.
CHURCH OF MIRACOLI
 Known within the city simply as "dei Miracoli", the church was built between 1481 and 1489 to hold an image of the Virgin and Child and Two Saints.
The interior, a single nave with a raised presbytery, is decorated even more sumptuously with sculpted marble. On the altar stands Niccolò di Pietro's supposedly miraculous image of the Virgin and Child (14th-15th century).
The imposing barrel vault is decorated with wooden coffering and fifty panels depicting Prophets and Patriarchs, painted by Pier Maria Pennachi and assistants. The pendentives of the cupola house statues of the Four Evangelists, probably the work of Pietro Lombardo himself - as is the splendid open-work rail in front of the presbytery.
Above the entrance you can still see the old wooden choirstalls (barco) of the nuns from the nearby convent, who used to gain access to the church by means of a raised passageway that has since been demolished.
CHURCH OF SAN GIOVANNI ELEMOSINARIO
 The church of San Giovanni Elemosinario is very ancient: it was founded before 1051, but nothing remains of the original building, because of the terrible fire that destroyed the Rialto area in 1514. The reconstruction of the church was probably commissioned to Antonio Abbondi called Scarpagnino, who completed it before 1531, while he was taking care of rebuilding the whole market area.
The present building is completely incorporated into its dense urban setting, at the point of making its recognition difficult.. The church, a beautiful example of Renaissance architecture, has two extraordinary pictorial documents of two great sixteenth-century artists: Titian (the altarpiece on the main altar) and Pordenone (the right apsidal chapel, with Saints Catherine, Sebastian and Roch).
CHURCH OF SAN POLO
 Founded in the 9th century, the Church of San Polo then underwent two important restructuring projects which altered the original Byzantine appearance of the building (the two column-bearing lions at the base of the nearby bell-tower were probably part of this original structure).
The first major work on the church took place in the 15th century (late Gothic additions); the second refurbishment took place in 1804 (neo-classical style).
The austere interior contains various works of art: The Last Supper and The Assumption of the Virgin with Saints (by Jacopo Tintoretto), works by Palma il Giovane and Tiepolo, 18th-century frescoes by Salviati and the Paolo Veronese's The Marriage of the Virgin.
BASILICA OF FRARI
 After the Basilica of St. Mark's, the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari is the most remarkable ecclesiastical complex in Venice, as well as being one of the most important Franciscan foundations in Italy.
Originally built between 1236 and 1338 by the Franciscan Conventual Friars, the structure was thoroughly re-modelled in the 14th century and given its present more grandiose form of central nave, two side aisles and seven apsidal chapels after Franciscan-Gothic designs.
Over the centuries the basilica has become a veritable treasure-chest of exceptional works of art:
the powerful altarpiece depicting The Assumption of the Virgin and the Pesaro Altarpiece (1526) by Titian, Giovanni Bellini's Triptych with Virgin and Saints (1488), Bartolomeo Vivarini's St. Mark's Triptych (1474).
The Basilica also contains the one Venetian work by Donatello: his magnificent wooden statue of St. John the Baptist.
Sculpture plays an important part in the church; both in the fine wooden choirstalls and in the numerous tombs which make the Frari something of a Pantheon of Venetian notables. The veritable masterpieces here include the Tron and Foscari Monuments in the presbytery and Alessandro Vittoria's statue of St. Jerome on the Zane altar.
CHURCH OF SAN GIACOMO DALL’ORIO
 Founded in the 9th century, San Giacomo dall'Orio is one of the oldest churches in Venice. Its present form - a Latin Cross with a central nave, two aisles and a transept - is the result of a rebuilding project initiated in 1225 and of subsequent modifications carried out in the 15th and 16th century.
The 1225 re-building work incorporated within the structure Byzantine pieces that had been brought back from the Levant after the IV Crusade - these include the fine green marble column with Ionic capital praised by John Ruskin and Gabriele d'Annunzio.
In the Sacristy there is some of Jacopo Palma il Giovane's best work, including the very Titianesque Altarpiece with Father da Ponte (1580-81); while the New Sacristy contains a panelled ceiling decorated with works by Paolo Veronese.
CHURCH OF SAN STAE
 Fundamental to an understanding of early 18th century Venetian painting, the Church of San Stae (Sant'Eustachio) is itself a strikingly coherent architectural whole.
The opulent Grand Canal façade of San Stae is the work of Domenico Rossi (1709).
Giovanni Grassi's late-17th-century interior reveals the clear influence of Palladio. The single nave is flanked on each side by three open chapels, and half-way down the church the paving is occupied by a large tombstone that marks the burial place of the Mocenigo family.
The chapels contain works by Torretto, Migliori and Amigoni respectively. The ceiling of the presbytery is decorated with a large canvas by Bartolomeo Letterini, whilst on the two side walls - above and below the two works by Giuseppe Angeli - are twelve smaller canvasses depicting the Apostles. By various artists, these works include such absolute masterpieces as The Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew by the young Giambattista Tiepolo, The Martyrdom of St. James by Giambattista Piazzetta and The Liberation of St. Peter by Sebastiano Ricci.
 CHURCH OF SANT’ALVISE
A visit to the Church of Sant'Alvise and the nearby church of Madonna dell'Orto offers you a chance to get to know the real Venice and to enjoy the silences of the lagoon in one of the remotest areas of Cannaregio, which was gradually built up on regular lots of reclaimed land.
Originally a convent church, Sant'Alvise was, according to tradition, commissioned in honour of St. Louis of Toulouse by the Venetian noblewoman Antonia Venier in 1388 after the saint had appeared to her in a dream.
The present form of the church is the result of refurbishing work carried out in the 17th century; the daring perspective of the ceiling frescoes painted then by Antonio Torri and Pietro Ricchi is still spectacularly effective.
Amongst the other works of art in the church one cannot omit to mention Christ carrying the Cross - a youthful masterpiece by Giambattista Tiepolo, who is represented in Sant'Alvise by another two early works: The Coronation with thorns and The Flagellation (1737-40).
CHURCH OF SAN PIETRO DI CASTELLO
 The Church of San Pietro di Castello played a central role in Venetian history. From 775 to 1451 it was a Diocesan Church under the Patriarchate of Grado, then it became a Cathedral in its own right and the seat of the Patriarch of Venice. San Pietro stands on the island of Olivolo, which was the first settlement in the lagoon and became the religious, political and commercial centre of the nascent city.
The facade is the work of Francesco Smeraldi, but based on original designs by Andrea Palladio (1556); whilst the imposing bell-tower in Istrian stone is an elegant Renaissance structure designed by Mauro Codussi (1482-1490).
Note the high altar of inlaid polychrome marble, which was designed in 1649 by Baldassare Longhena.
The ancient standing of this church is "confirmed" by the presence of the so-called Throne of St. Peter, that is an assemblage of parts (probably put together in the 13th century) and incorporates an old Arab funeral stele.
The Vendramin and Lando Chapels in the north transept are of particular importance. The former is the work of Baldassare Longhena and contains a fine Madonna and Child with Souls in Purgatory by Luca Giordano (1650), the latter is a Late Gothic structure with a mosaic altarpiece by Zuccato (based on a Tintoretto cartoon) and a fragment of Roman mosaic decorating the predella of the altar.
CHURCH OF REDENTORE
 The Church of the Redentore is one of the most famous and venerated churches in Venice, and the centrepiece of one of the city's most deeply felt public celebrations (the Feast of the Redentore, on the third Sunday in July).
Commissioned by the Senate to honour a vow taken during the terrible plague of 1575-77, the Church was designed by Andrea Palladio and is one of the absolute masterpiece of Renaissance architecture (it was completed after Palladio's death in 1580 by his foreman Antonio da Ponte, who remained totally faithful to the original designs).
There are a number of important artistic works in the church and sacristy: Pietro Vecchia's fine lunette The Virgin presenting Jesus to the Blessed Felix, and paintings by Veronese (and assistants), Jacopo Tintoretto, Francesco Bassano, Paolo Piazza and Palma il Giovane (in the nave and presbytery).
Along with the fine Veronese altarpiece The Baptism of Christ (1560), the Sacristy also contains valuable reliquaries and other devotional paintings linked with the history of the church (including a panel by Alvise Vivarini and works by Bissolo and Andrea Brustolon).
CHURCH OF GESUATI
 The Church of Gesuati, the biggest conventual complex of XVIII century Venice, was built between 1726 and 1735 for the Dominicans, to take the place of the small church, still existing alongside.
The interior of the building strikes for its harmony: particularly interesting is the ceiling decorated by Giambattista Tiepolo with three frescoes representing The apparition of the Virgin to St. Dominic, The institution of the rosary and The glory of St. Dominic together with various monochromes.
Of great importance is also an altarpiece by Jacopo Tintoretto, restored by Giambattista Piazzetta, depicting the Crucifixion, which comes from the old church.
CHURCH OF SAN SEBASTIANO
 Its contents make the Church of San Sebastiano one of the very centres of Venetian art, conserving as it does, an extraordinary body of works by Paolo Caliari, better known as Veronese, undoubtedly the most important single complex of paintings that he completed in his entire life.
The artist was commissioned by the Veronese prior of the order, Brother Bernardo Torlioni, who also devised the iconographycal scheme for the whole cycle, which was intended to represent the victory of faith over heresy. Veronese's work in the church can be divided into three periods, the first ran from 1555 to 1556, and began with the series of old testament paintings in the sacristy, concluding with the panels depicting episodes from the Book of Esther which decorate the coffered roof. The second phase of work ran from 1558 to 1559 and included the frescoes on the upper part of the nave, the decoration of the friar choir and the organ doors and frontal.
The final period of work ran from 1565 to 1570 and included the large altarpiece Madonna in Glory with St. Sebastian and other Saints, and two other paintings on the side walls of the presbytery: Saints Mark and Marcellino led to their martyrdom and the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian. Fittingly enough, the church is also the artist mausoleum, and his tomb can be seen to the left of the presbytery.
CHURCH OF SAN GIOBBE
 The church of San Giobbe owes its foundation to the charitable will of the priest Giovanni Contarini, who in 1378 built a home for poor folk beside an oratory dedicated to Saint Job the Prophet.
The transformation of the church was mostly the work of the architect Pietro Lombardo and represents one of the very first examples of Renaissance architecture in Venice with clear Tuscan influences.
The interior, with a single nave, is characterized by the extremely fine decoration of pillars and molding by Pietro Lombardo. In the course of the XVI century the church was enriched with paintings by the most famous Venetian painters of the time, some of which are still in place (Bonifacio de’ Pitati, Savoldo, Vivarini, Previtali), while others, of immense value, are today exhibited in the Gallerie dell’Accademia (Bellini, Carpaccio, Basaiti).
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