78 Best Sights in Venice, Italy

This lovely square was named after a laurel tree (orio), and today trees lend it shade and character. Add benches and a fountain (with a drinking bowl for dogs), and the pleasant, oddly shaped campo becomes a welcoming place for friendly conversation and neighborhood kids at play. The church of San Giacomo dall'Orio was founded in the 9th century on an island still populated (the legend goes) by wolves. The current church dates from 1225.

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.

Guided by his vision of a beautiful Madonna, 7th-century Saint Magno is said to have followed a small white cloud and built a church where it settled. Gracefully white, the marble building you see today dates from 1492, built by Mauro Codussi on an older foundation. Codussi's harmonious Renaissance design is best understood by visiting the interior; the Renaissance facade facing the canal was added later, in 1542, and the Baroque facade facing the campo was added in 1604. Of interest are three fine paintings: Our Lady of Mercy by Bartolomeo Vivarini, Santa Barbara by Palma Vecchio, and Madonna with St. Domenic by Gianbattista Tiepolo. The surrounding square bustles with sidewalk cafés and a produce market on weekday mornings.

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. 

The "little scuola" of the shoemakers conducted its affairs in its headquarters in this charming building on Campo San Tomà. It is now used for community meetings and lectures open to the public, as well as small exhibitions. Most notable is the relief carving (Pietro Lombardo, 1478) above the main door that vividly portrays San Marco miraculously healing Aniano, a poor shoemaker and the scuola's patron saint. The story goes that San Marco had arrived in Alexandria, Egypt, and was directed by the archangel Michael to go to Aniano to fix his broken sandal. He found the shoemaker in terrible pain from having injured himself with one of his tools. Marco preached the gospel to him, and then created a substance by mixing his saliva with dust from the road that healed the injury immediately. Aniano converted to Christianity and was baptized by Marco himself.

The charming rust-color building tucked beside the church of San Stae was the headquarters of the gold guild, including the gold "pullers" (gold wire and thread) and gold beaters (gold leaf). Although it was a very old guild, it was one of the smallest (only 48 members); their building was constructed only in 1711, and closed in 1798, a year after the fall of the Venetian Republic. After changing hands several times, in the early 20th century it became the property of a Venetian antiques dealer, whose family still owns it today. While it is not open to the public, the building is used for elegant private events.

When the order of Santa Maria del Carmelo commissioned Baldassare Longhena to finish the work on the Scuola Grande dei Carmini in the 1670s, their confraternity was one of the largest and wealthiest in Venice. Little expense was spared in the stuccoed ceilings and carved wooden paneling, and the artwork is remarkable. The paintings by Gianbattista Tiepolo that adorn the Baroque ceiling of the Sala Capitolare (Chapter House) are particularly alluring. In what many consider his best work, the artist’s nine canvases vividly transform some rather conventional religious themes into dynamic displays of color and movement.

This scuola was founded in the 13th century, but the actual building is the work of various Venetian Renaissance architects and dates from the 15th century. In the 1480s the architect Pietro Lombardo finished the school's most beautiful and important architectural feature, the outdoor atrium and gateway that separate the complex from the campo adjoining it. Shortly after, in 1498, the architect Mauro Codussi finished work on a double staircase connecting the upper and lower halls. It is illuminated by a mullioned window on the landing between the two flights of stairs, an architectural device much used by Codussi. Carpaccio and Gentile Bellini painted their cycle of the miracle of the holy cross, now in the Accademia museum, originally for the Scuola di San Giovanni.

Another of the six "great" scuole, San Giovanni Evangelista, founded in 1261, is only a few steps from the Frari and San Rocco, but undeservedly lacks the popularity of San Rocco, despite its impressive Renaissance architecture by two of the greatest architects of the 15th century (Pietro Lombardo and Mauro Codussi). The wealth of paintings by Titian, Palma il Giovane, and Giandomenico Tiepolo favor depictions of St. John's visions of the Apocalypse. The famous paintings of the "Miracles of the Reliquary of the Holy Cross," created by Giovanni Bellini in 1490 for the scuola, are in the Accademia Gallery. The grand staircase was redesigned in 1498 by Mauro Codussi, who employed several visual tricks to make it seem larger than its small space would allow, and the mosaic marble pavement of the Salone (Giorgio Massari, 1752) is a masterpiece of the stoneworker's art. If you don't have time to visit the scuola itself, be sure to stop in its unique semi-enclosed medieval courtyard. The marble wall (Pietro Lombardo, 1481) is surmounted by a cross, eagle, and books, all symbols of St. John. The pavement (1759) echoes the designs seen on Piazza San Marco.

San Trovaso is one of only four squeri, or boatbuilding yards specifically dedicated to gondolas and other Venetian wooden boats, still operating in Venice. (There once were at least 45). Dating from the 17th century, it is a registered monument where you can really observe and appreciate a unique mode of transportation that still thrives today. If the small wooden buildings seem to resemble an Alpine chalet, it's because Venice's boatbuilders historically came from the nearby mountains. Notice the wooden planks stacked outside to season (a gondola is made of eight different types of wood). Half-hour visits can be booked.

This enameled clock, completed in 1499, was most likely designed by Venetian Renaissance architect Mauro Codussi. Twin giant figures with tarnished bronze bodies strike the hour each day, while three wise men with an angel walk out and bow to the Virgin Mary on Epiphany (January 6) and during Ascension Week (40 days after Easter). An inscription on the tower reads "Horas non numero nisi serenas" ("I only count happy hours"). Originally, the clock tower had a much lighter, more graceful appearance, and was freestanding. The four lateral bays were added in the early 16th century, while the upper stories and balustrades were completed in 1755. The clock itself was neglected until the 19th century, but after years of painstaking labor, it was reassembled and is fully operational. Guided tours, which start at the Museo Correr's ticket office, are held in English on Thursday at 3 pm; book in advance online or by phone.

When it comes to contemporary art, Venice's Biennale may get all the ink, but this new art center on the Zattere gives it a run for its money. Set up within the Palazzo Clary, it features both permanent and temporary exhibitions of thought-provoking contemporary art. Be aware that some of its shows are dense, technical creations. When you work up an appetite, café/restaurant Sudest 1401 features classic and innovative dishes from the Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta regions, uncommon elsewhere in Venice. A bonus: it's one of the few museums open on Monday.