Home Destinations Europe Italy Venice Sights Campo San Polo

Campo San Polo Review

Read our Venice sights reviews. Or post your own.

Campo San Polo

Address: Campo San Polo, Venice, 30125
Phone: 041/2750462 Chorus

Category: Religious Sites
Location: San Polo and Santa Croce

Write a review

Fodor's Review:

Only Piazza San Marco is larger than this square, where not even the pigeons manage to look cozy, and the echo of children's voices bouncing off the surrounding palaces makes the space seem even more cavernous. Not long ago Campo San Polo hosted bull races, fairs, military parades, and packed markets, but now it only really comes alive on summer nights, when it hosts the city's outdoor cinema. The Chiesa di San Polo has been restored so many times that little remains of the original 9th-century church, and sadly, 19th-century alterations were so costly that the friars sold off many great paintings to pay bills. Though Giambattista Tiepolo is represented here, his work is outdone by 16 paintings by his son Giandomenico (1727-1804), including the Stations of the Cross in the oratory to the left of the entrance. The younger Tiepolo also created a series of expressive and theatrical renderings of the saints. Look for altarpieces by Tintoretto and Veronese that managed to escape auction. San Polo's bell tower remained unchanged through the centuries—don't miss the two lions guarding it, playing with a disembodied human head and a serpent.

Cost: EUR 3, Chorus pass EUR 9
Open: Mon.-Sat. 10-5, Sun. 1-5
Vaporetto: San Silvestro/San Tomà

Find more sights in Venice »