24 Best Sights in Venice, Italy

The Basilica di San Marco is not only the religious center of a great city, but also an expression of the political, intellectual, and economic aspiration and accomplishments of a place that, for centuries, was at the forefront of European culture. It is a monument not just to the glory of God, but also to the glory of Venice. The basilica was the doges' personal chapel, linking its religious function to the political life of the city, and was endowed with all the riches the Republic's admirals and merchants could carry off from the Orient (as the Byzantine Empire was then known), earning it the nickname “Chiesa d'Oro” (Golden Church). When the present church was begun in the 11th century, rare colored marbles and gold-leaf mosaics were used in its decoration. The 12th and 13th centuries were a period of intense military expansion, and by the early 13th century, the facades began to bear testimony to Venice's conquests, including gilt-bronze ancient Roman horses taken from Constantinople in 1204.

The glory of the basilica is, of course, its medieval mosaic work; about 30% of the mosaics survive in something close to their original form. The earliest date from the late 12th century, but the great majority date from the 13th century. The taking of Constantinople in 1204 was a deciding moment for the mosaic decoration of the basilica. Large amounts of mosaic material were brought in, and a Venetian school of mosaic decoration began to develop. Moreover, a 4th- or 5th-century treasure—the Cotton Genesis, the earliest illustrated Bible—was brought from Constantinople and supplied the designs for the exquisite mosaics of the Creation and the stories of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses that adorn the narthex (entrance hall). They are among the most beautiful and best preserved in all the basilica.

Remember that this is a sacred place: guards may deny admission to people in shorts, sleeveless dresses, and tank tops.

The hallowed centerpiece of Torcello, Santa Maria Assunta was built in the 11th century, and the island's wealth at the time is evident in the church's high-quality mosaics. The mosaics show the gradually increasing cultural independence of Venice from Byzantium. The magnificent late-12th-century mosaic of the Last Judgment shows the transition from the stiffer Byzantine style on the left to the more fluid Venetian style on the right. The Virgin in the main apse dates possibly from about 1185 and is of a distinctly Byzantine type, with her right hand pointing to the Christ child held with her left arm. The depictions of the 12 Apostles below her are possibly the oldest mosaics in the church and date from the early 12th century. Note that restoration of the mosaics is ongoing. The adjacent Santa Fosca church, built when the body of the saint arrived in 1011, is still used for religious services.

The interior walls of this early-18th-century church (1715–30) resemble brocade drapery, and only touching them will convince skeptics that rather than embroidered cloth, the green-and-white walls are inlaid marble. This trompe-l'oeil decor is typical of the late Baroque's fascination with optical illusion. Toward the end of his life, Titian tended to paint scenes of suffering and sorrow in a nocturnal ambience. A dramatic example of this is on display above the first altar to the left: Titian's daring Martyrdom of St. Lawrence (1578), taken from an earlier church that stood on this site. Titian's Assumption (1555), originally commissioned for the destroyed Crociferi church, demands reverence. The Crociferi's surviving Oratory features some of Palma Giovane's best work, painted between 1583 and 1591.

Though built toward the middle of the 14th century, this church takes its character from its beautiful late-Gothic facade, added between 1460 and 1464; it's one of the most beautiful Gothic churches in Venice. Tintoretto lived nearby, and this, his parish church, contains some of his most powerful work. Lining the chancel are two huge (45 feet by 20 feet) canvases, Adoration of the Golden Calf and Last Judgment. In glowing contrast to this awesome spectacle is Tintoretto's Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple and the simple chapel where he and his children, Marietta and Domenico, are buried. Paintings by Domenico, Cima da Conegliano, Palma Giovane, Palma Vecchio, and Titian also hang in the church. A chapel displays a photographic reproduction of a precious Madonna with Child by Giovanni Bellini. The original was stolen one night in 1993. Don't miss the beautifully austere, late-Gothic cloister (1460), which you enter through the small door to the right of the church; it is frequently used for exhibitions but may be open at other times as well.

Although this church contains some interesting and beautiful paintings and sculptures, it's the architecture that makes it worth the hike through a lively, middle-class residential neighborhood. The Franciscan church was enlarged and rebuilt by Jacopo Sansovino in 1534, giving it the first Renaissance interior in Venice; its proportions are said to reflect the mystic significance of the numbers three and seven dictated by Renaissance neo-Platonic numerology. The soaring but harmonious facade was added in 1562 by Palladio. The church represents a unique combination of the work of the two great stars of 16th-century Veneto architecture.

There's been a church on this island since the 8th century, with the addition of a Benedictine monastery in the 10th. Today's refreshingly airy and simply decorated church of brick and white marble was begun in 1566 by Palladio and displays his architectural hallmarks of mathematical harmony and classical influence. The Last Supper and the Gathering of Manna, two of Tintoretto's later works, line the chancel. To the right of the entrance hangs The Adoration of the Shepherds by Jacopo Bassano (1517–92); affection for his home in the foothills, Bassano del Grappa, is evident in the bucolic subjects and terra-firma colors. If they have time, monks are happy to show Carpaccio's St. George and the Dragon, which hangs in a private room. The campanile (bell tower) dates from 1791, the previous structures having collapsed twice.  Climb to the top of the campanile for unparalleled 360-degree views of the lagoon, islands, and Venice itself.

Paolo Veronese (1528–88), though still in his twenties, was already the official painter of the Republic when he began the ceiling oil panels and wall frescoes at San Sebastiano in 1555. For decades he continued to embellish the church with very beautiful illusionistic scenes. The cycles of scenes in San Sebastiano are considered to be his supreme accomplishment. His three oil paintings in the center of the ceiling depict scenes from the life of Esther, a rare theme in Venice. Veronese is buried beneath his bust near the organ. 

More a museum than a church, San Zaccaria has a striking Renaissance facade, with central and upper portions representing some of Mauro Codussi's best work. The lower portion of the facade and the interior were designed by Antonio Gambello. The original structure of the church was 14th-century Gothic, with its facade completed in 1515, some years after Codussi's death in 1504, and it retains the proportions of the rest of the essentially Gothic structure. Inside is one of the great treasures of Venice, Giovanni Bellini's celebrated altarpiece, La Sacra Conversazione, easily recognizable in the left nave. Completed in 1505, when the artist was 75, it shows Bellini's ability to incorporate the aesthetics of the High Renaissance into his work. 

Tiny yet harmoniously proportioned, this Renaissance gem, built between 1481 and 1489, is sheathed in marble and decorated inside with exquisite marble reliefs. Architect Pietro Lombardo (circa 1435–1515) miraculously compressed the building to fit its lot, then created the illusion of greater size by varying the color of the exterior, adding extra pilasters on the building's canal side and offsetting the arcade windows to make the arches appear deeper. The church was built to house I Miracoli, an image of the Virgin Mary by Niccolò di Pietro (1394–1440) that is said to have performed miracles—look for it on the high altar.

The most iconic landmark of the Grand Canal, "La Salute" (as this church is commonly called) is most unforgettably viewed from the Riva degli Schiavoni at sunset, or from the Accademia Bridge by moonlight. En route to becoming Venice's most important Baroque architect, 32-year-old Baldassare Longhena won a competition in 1631 to design a shrine honoring the Virgin Mary for saving Venice from a plague that in the space of two years (1629–31) killed 47,000 residents, or one-third of the city's population, including the doge. It was not completed, however, until 1687—five years after Longhena's death.

Outside, this ornate white Istrian stone octagon is topped by a colossal cupola with snail-like ornamental buttresses—in truth, piers encircled by finely carved "ropes," an allusion to the sail-making industry of the city (or so say today's art historians). Inside, a white-and-gray color scheme is complemented by a polychrome marble floor and the six chapels. The Byzantine icon above the main altar has been venerated as the Madonna della Salute (Madonna of Health) since 1670, when Francesco Morosini brought it here from Crete. Above it is a dramatic marble sculpture by Giusto Le Court showing Venice on her knees before the Madonna as she implores aid and a cherub drives the plague from the city.

Do not leave the church without visiting the Sacrestia Maggiore, which contains a dozen works by Titian, including his San Marco Enthroned with Saints altarpiece. You'll also see Tintoretto's Wedding at Cana. For the Festa della Salute, held November 21, a votive bridge is constructed across the Grand Canal from Campo Santa Maria del Giglio to San Gregorio, and Venetians make a pilgrimage here to light candles in prayer for another year's health.

Completed in 1442, this immense Gothic church of russet-color brick, known locally as “I Frari,” is famous worldwide for its array of spectacular Venetian paintings and historic tombs. It is also noteworthy for being the only important church in Italy that has preserved its elaborately carved, freestanding wooden choir in front of the high altar, a common feature in the medieval period (for the use of the monks in the attached monastery, still active today).

Visit the sacristy first, to see Giovanni Bellini's 1488 triptych Madonna and Child with Saints in all its mellow luminosity, painted for precisely this spot. The Corner Chapel on the other side of the chancel is graced by Bartolomeo Vivarini's (1415–84) 1474 altarpiece St. Mark Enthroned and Saints John the Baptist, Jerome, Peter, and Nicholas, which is much more conservative, displaying an attention to detail generally associated with late medieval painting. In the first south chapel of the choir, there is a fine sculpture of St. John the Baptist by Donatello, dated 1438 (perhaps created before the artist came to Venice), which conveys a psychological intensity rare for early Renaissance sculpture. You can see the rapid development of Venetian Renaissance painting by contrasting Bellini with the heroic energy of Titian's Assumption, over the main altar, painted only 30 years later. Unveiled in 1518, it was the artist's first public commission and, after causing a bit of controversy, did much to establish his reputation. Upon viewing this painting at the far end of the nave, you'll first think it has been specially spotlit: up close, however, you'll discover this impression is due to the painter's unrivaled use of light and color.

Titian's masterpiece, the Madonna di Ca' Pesaro, is in the left aisle. The painting took seven years to complete (finished in 1526), and in it Titian disregarded the conventions of his time by moving the Virgin out of center and making the saints active participants. The composition, built on diagonals, anticipates structural principals of Baroque painting in the following century. The work is brought to life by the unconventional gaze of young Leonardo Pesaro, who seems to look directly at the viewer.

The Frari also holds a Sansovino sculpture of St. John the Baptist and Longhena's impressive Baroque tomb designed for Doge Giovanni Pesaro. Titian, who died during the plague of 1576, is buried near his luminous Madonna di Ca' Pesaro; the massive marble monument to him near the main entrance was commissioned by the emperor of Austria in 1838 in recognition of the artist who had worked at the court of his forefathers. The black marble tomb of musician Claudio Monteverdi, one of the greatest composers of the 17th century, is in the chapel of the Milanese to the left of the high altar. There are always roses lying on it, left by anonymous admirers.

This gorgeous church looms over one of the most picturesque squares in Venice: the Campo Giovanni e Paolo, centered on the magnificent 15th-century equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni by the Florentine Andrea del Verrocchio. Also note the beautiful facade of the Scuola Grande di San Marco (now the municipal hospital), begun by Pietro Lombardo and completed after the turn of the 16th century by Mauro Codussi. The massive Italian Gothic church itself is of the Dominican order and was consecrated in 1430. Bartolomeo Bon's portal, combining Gothic and classical elements, was added between 1458 and 1462, using columns salvaged from Torcello. The 15th-century stained-glass window near the side entrance is breathtaking for its brilliant colors and beautiful figures; it was made in Murano from drawings by Bartolomeo Vivarini and Girolamo Mocetto (circa 1458–1531). The second official church of the Republic after San Marco, San Zanipolo (as its known in Venetian) is Venice's equivalent of London's Westminster Abbey, with a great number of important people, including 25 doges, buried here.

Artistic highlights include an early (1465) polyptych by Giovanni Bellini (right aisle, second altar) where the influence of Mantegna is still very evident, Alvise Vivarini's Christ Carrying the Cross (sacristy), and Lorenzo Lotto's Charity of St. Antonino (right transept). Don't miss the Cappella del Rosario (Rosary Chapel), off the left transept, built in the 16th century to commemorate the 1571 victory of Lepanto in western Greece, when Venice led a combined European fleet to defeat the Turkish Navy. The chapel was devastated by a fire in 1867 and restored in the early years of the 20th century with works from other churches, among them the sumptuous Veronese ceiling paintings. However quick your visit, don't miss the Pietro Mocenigo tomb to the right of the main entrance, by Pietro Lombardo and his sons. Note also Tullio Lombardo's tomb of Andrea Vendramin, the original home of Tullio's Adam, which has recently been restored in New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Just past the glass museum, this is among the first churches founded by the lagoon's original inhabitants. The elaborate mosaic pavement includes the date 1140; its ship's-keel roof and Veneto-Byzantine columns add to the semblance of an ancient temple.

You'll pass this church just before you reach Murano's Grand Canal (a little more than 800 feet from the landing). Reconstructed in 1511, it houses Giovanni Bellini's very beautiful and spectacular Madonna and Child with Doge Augostino Barbarigo and Veronese's St. Jerome.

When the Dominicans took over the church of Santa Maria della Visitazione from the suppressed order of Gesuati laymen in 1668, Giorgio Massari, the last of the great Venetian Baroque architects, was commissioned to build this structure between 1726 and 1735. It has an important Gianbattista Tiepolo (1696–1770) illusionistic ceiling and several other of his works, plus those of his contemporaries Giambattista Piazzetta (1683–1754) and Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734). Outside on the right-hand wall above a small staircase is a bronze door decorated with a series of panels showing scenes from the life of Jesus by noted Venetian sculptor Francesco Scarpabolla.

Officially titled San Giacomo Apostolo, but affectionately nicknamed San Giacometto ("Little Saint James"), this is one of the three oldest churches in Venice. Legend says its establishment coincides with the mythic date of Venice's founding on March 25, 421, but in fact it was built when the market was established in 1097. It's a tiny Romanesque jewel in Greek-cross form that miraculously survived the conflagration that leveled much of the Rialto area in 1514. The porch (15th century) is supported by five Veneto-Byzantine columns of Greek marble dating from when the church was built. The impressive clock (mid-15th century) above the entrance, marked in 24 hours, governed the market's opening and closing times. The bell gable (1792) was installed to replace the tower damaged in the disastrous fire of 1514; its economical but perfectly functional style is seen on several other churches in Venice. Concerts are often given here.

Storefronts make up the facade, and market guilds—poulterers, messengers, and fodder merchants—built the altars at this church intimately bound to the Rialto markets. The original church was completely destroyed by a fire in 1514 and rebuilt in 1531 by Scarpagnino, who had also worked on the Scuola di San Rocco. During a more recent restoration, workers stumbled upon a frescoed cupola by Pordenone (1484–1539) that had been painted over centuries earlier. Don't miss Titian's St. John the Almsgiver and Pordenone's Sts. Catherine, Sebastian, and Roch.

Tiny, cypress-lined San Michele is home to the first church designed by Mauro Codussi and the first example of Renaissance architecture in Venice; the gracefully elegant structure shows the profound influence of Florentine architects Alberti and Rossellino that would come to full fruition in Codussi's palaces on the Canale Grande. The church's dedication to St. Michael is singularly appropriate, since traditionally he holds the scales of the Last Judgment.

Next to the church is the somewhat later hexagonal Capella Emiliani (1528–1543), whose strangely shaped dome recalls those of Etruscan tombs.

Officially named "San Nicola da Tolentino," Vincenzo Scamozzi's Baroque building (1602; facade 1714 by Andrea Tirali) is named for Saint Nicholas as venerated in the town of Tolentino in the Marche region of Italy. A black cannonball is stuck into the wall just to the right of the front door as you enter the church; this is a relic of the Austrian bombardment during the failed Venetian uprising in 1848. It didn't land here by itself, but was placed here as a memorial; an identical cannonball is on the facade of the church of San Salvador. It has a squad of doges' tombs: Giovanni I Cornaro (d. 1629), his son Francesco Cornaro (d. 1656), Giovanni II Cornaro (d. 1722), and Paolo Renier (d. 1789). The adjoining monastery now serves as a branch of IUAV, the University of Architecture.

San Nicolò is one of the oldest churches in Venice (7th century), though the present building dates from 1300, and the covered porch was added in the 15th century. It was dedicated to the patron saint of sailors and fishermen. "Mendicoli" might refer to its earliest neighbors ("mendici," or beggars), or to "mendigola," the original name of the little island on which it stands. Under the Venetian Republic, the inhabitants of this area were categorically called "Nicolotti" (those from the easternmost part of Venice were "Castellani") and granted many special privileges by the doge. They elected their own "doge" in this church, and he was allowed, among other things, to follow directly behind the doge's barge on the Feast of the Ascension.

The church interior always seems a little dark, despite an unusual amount of gold leaf, not only on the picture frames but under the arches of the stone columns. You'll notice the classic three-nave Roman basilica design, and that the walls are covered with paintings, many by artists of the school of Veronese. The round painting by Francesco Montemezzano of St. Nicholas in Glory in the center of the ceiling may well be one of the most chaotic scenes of its type ever created. The imposing gilt wooden statue of Saint Nicholas in the niche above the high altar is from the mid-15th century. Parts of the classic horror film Don't Look Now (1973) were filmed here.

Built in 1738 by Giovanni Antonio Scalfarotto, this neoclassical behemoth is the first thing you see when you exit the train station. It makes a breathtaking first impression, though it's obvious that its proportions are very unbalanced. When Napoléon saw it, he famously quipped, "I've seen churches with domes before, but this is the first time I've seen a dome with a church." It is open daily but only for mass at 11 am, conducted in Latin according to the Roman ritual. It is under the care of FSSP (Fraternità Sacerdotale San Pietro), a missionary confraternity of priests.

The church of San Stae—the Venetian name for Sant'Eustachio (St. Eustace)—was reconstructed in 1687 by Giovanni Grassi and given a new facade in 1707 by Domenico Rossi. Renowned Venetian painters and sculptors of the early 18th century decorated this church around 1717 with the legacy left by Doge Alvise II Mocenigo, who's buried in the center aisle. San Stae affords a good opportunity to see the early works of Gianbattista Tiepolo, Sebastiano Ricci, and Piazzetta, as well as those of the previous generation of Venetian painters, with whom they had studied.

For Tiepolo fans, trekking to the outer reaches of a pleasant residential section of Cannaregio to visit the unassuming Gothic church of Sant'Alvise is well worth the trouble. The little church holds Gianbattista Tiepolo's three panels of the Passion of Christ. He painted these panels, which display a new interest in dramatic intensity, and perhaps the influence of Tintoretto and Titian, for the church during his middle period, between 1737 and 1740.

After a plague in 1576 claimed some 50,000 people—nearly one-third of the city's population (including Titian)—Andrea Palladio was asked to design a commemorative church. The Giudecca's Capuchin friars offered land and their services, provided the building's design was in keeping with the simplicity of their hermitage. Consecrated in 1592, after Palladio's death, the Redentore (considered Palladio's supreme achievement in ecclesiastical design) is dominated by a dome and a pair of slim, almost minaretlike bell towers. Its deceptively simple, stately facade leads to a bright, airy interior. There aren't any paintings or sculptures of note, but the harmony and elegance of the interior makes a visit worthwhile.