DH reluctantly agreeing to Venice...I know, but we won't go there. Anyway, he loves wandering through churches so I would like to know what your favorites are. Thanks!

We went to a Mass on the island of San Maria Maggiore. The monks were so friendly. They even invited us to coffee after Mass. It was beautiful.

The Church that is Venice

And many of the churches in Venice contain some of Italy's greatest works of art--viewable for free or a very low fee.

The one church I am making a beeline for the next time in Venice is the Church of Angelo Raffaele in Campo Angelo Raffaele (Dorsoduro). This is the church in a book I loved, "Miss Garnet's Angel". This book, based in Venice, was a sleeper hit in England and then came over to the US. It is the story of a retired teacher who decides to spend six months in Venice and befriends a couple of twins restoring this church. The descriptions of Venice are so unique. This church contains a number of paintings of the Guardi brothers, depicting the story of the Angel Tobias, which plays a big part in the book. Have fun!! By the way the Angel Raphael is associated so much with Venice because it is believed that the Black Death (the plague) came from the East to Europe via Venice; Raphael is the anfgel associated with healing.

Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. Titian's Assumption of the Virgin (over the main altar) will take your breath away. Go in the morning on a sunny day to get the full effect of light streaming through the apse windows around the painting. Sigh.

I haven't been to all that many churches in Venice, but we really love Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, too. We would not think of going to Venice without going back to see the wonders of it.

San Maria Maggiore, San Zacharia...there are so many wonderful churches! We've been in at least 20. I think there are about 125 or more in Venice.

I agree with La Salute, and also the Scalzi (don't know if that's the proper name of it) next to the train station.

Hi Holly, I immediately thought of the church next to the train station also.
The complete name of it is Santa Maria di Nazareth degli Scalzi. I double checked on my map. For me it is a very special church.

Santa Maria dei Miracoli, S. Giovanni Decollato, S. Salvatore, S. Maria Formosa, S. Sebastiano... if I were to choose only one single church, it would be S. Maria dei Miracoli.

Btw, nobody alive has attended mass at Santa Maria Maggiore in Venice, nor is it on any island. S. Maria Maggiore has been closed down in the 19th century (maybe even by the Napoleonic occupants, I don't recall exactly) and is today part of the prison of Venice, but not as the prison chapel - it's some kind of storage room. Did you perhaps want to say S. Giorgio Maggiore?

travelfan,

I answered a similar question several months ago by saying:
Santa Maria dei Miracoli because this tiny chapel buried in the back streets of Venice really captivated me with its beauty, especially the ceiling, which is a gilded barrel vault, and beautifully decorated..it is in some ways very simple, just a single middle aisle, but there is a hush and an intimacy that is wonderful...it is like a little jewel box..

bookmarking

S. Giorgio Maggiore

Yes Franco thank you!

Thank you all for your input...I will have a list/directions ready for DH when we arrive. And I know he'll just have to peek in any we pass along the way!

can i tag on with a question - What is the best place to attend Sunday morning mass in Venice (we're staying in Dorsoduro)?? Is there Mass on Sun morning at St Mark's open to public?
Thanks!

I highly recommend the lovely and off-the-beaten-track Church of the Madonna dell’Orto, in the Cannaregio district: You’ll find several major paintings by Tintoretto. The painter’s ashes, along with those of his son and daughter, are buried in a chapel on the right of the apse.

Both Titian and Monteverde are interred within Iglesia de Santa María Gloriosa dei Frari, if that interests you.

We came across the church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo in the Cannaregio by accident one day and found it to be a truly amazing church where many of the Doges are burried.

Sorry, but while SS. Giovanni e Paolo (better known by its Venetian dialect name Zanipolo) is located on the border with Cannaregio, it's actually in Castello.