Chiesa dei Scalzi

An unexpected outburst of baroque extravagance next to the dour Ferrovia, this Longhena-designed church has a facade by Giuseppe Sardi rippling with columns and statues in niches. This is an unusual departure for Venice, where baroque ebullience was usually reserved for interiors of Renaissance-leaning buildings – and in fact it was a deliberate echo of a style often employed in Rome, intended to help make the Carmelites posted here from Rome feel more at home. Sadly, the vault frescoes by Tiepolo in two of the side chapels are damaged. Before the main altar on your left, you might spot the tomb of Venice’s last doge, Ludovico Manin, who presided over the dissolution of the Republic in 1797 before the threat of Napoleon and died in ignominy five years later.