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Chiesa Dei Carmini
What remains of the original 14th-century Byzantine and then Gothic church sits a little uneasily beside the richer, and perhaps less digestible, ornament of the 16th and 17th centuries. Among the paintings on view are several works by Cima da Conegliano and Lorenzo Lotto.
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Chiesa Dei Gesuati
Built for the Dominicans by a team of architects under Giorgio Massari from 1726 to 1735, this imposing church is more properly known as the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Rosario. It contains three ceiling frescoes by Tiepolo telling the story of St Dominic - the appearance to the saint of the Virgin Mary, the institution of the rosary (hence the church's official name) and St Dominic in glory.
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Chiesa Dei Scalzi
Virtually next to the train station, this is a rare baroque extravagance. Longhena designed the church, but the façade was done by Giuseppe Sardi. The abundance of columns and statues in niches is a deliberate echo of the particularly extravagant baroque style often employed in Rome. The Carmelites, who had moved here from Rome several years before, specifically requested that it be so. Damaged frescoes by Tiepolo appear in the vaults of two of the side chapels.
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Chiesa Delle Zitelle
Designed by Palladio in the late 16th century, the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Presentazione, known as the Zitelle, was a church and hospice for poor young women ( zitelle means 'old maids', which is presumably what many of them remained). It is now used for conferences and is only sporadically open.
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Chiesa Di San Bartolomeo
Long the parish church of the German community related to the nearby Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the church has undergone numerous reincarnations. Evidence suggests there was a church on this spot in the 9th century, but what you see today is the result of reworking in the wake of the building of the Ponte di Rialto and later changes. Much of the artwork inside is signed by Palma il Giovane.
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Chiesa Di San Domenico
Built in 1745 on the site of an earlier Dominican church. The site is a little island unto itself and the church's main claim to fame is the painting San Paolo (St Paul), said to be Vittore Carpaccio's last known work. The bell tower, raised in 1200, is the sole remnant of the original structure.
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Chiesa Di San Geremia
This otherwise uninspiring 18th-century church contains the body of St Lucy (Santa Lucia), who was martyred in Syracuse in AD 304. Her body was stolen by Venetian merchants from Constantinople in 1204 and moved to San Geremia after the Palladian church of Santa Lucia was demolished in the 19th century to make way for the train station.
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Chiesa Di San Giovanni Decollato
This modest and long-abandoned church (San Zan Degolà, or St John the Headless, in Venetian, known in less blood-curdling fashion in English as St John the Baptist) has been reborn as a home for Russian Orthodox services. Inside, some 14th-century frescoes remain. On the south wall facing the campo is a small, sculpted medallion of a lopped-off head.
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Chiesa Di San Giovanni Elemosinario
You could easily stride right past this Renaissance church, built by Antonio Abbondi after a disastrous fire in 1514 destroyed much of the Rialto area. The church and its separate bell tower are camouflaged by surrounding houses, so their presence comes as a surprise. The frescoes inside the dome are by Pordenone, as is one of two altarpieces.
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Chiesa Di San Giovanni Grisostomo
This church was remodelled on a Greek-cross plan by Codussi in 1504. Since 1977 it has housed an icon of the Virgin Mary that attracts a lot of the local faithful. With all the burning incense and candles, to wander in here is to feel yourself transported to a mysterious church of the Orthodox East. Notable is Giovanni Bellini's San Gerolamo e Due Santi (St Jerome and Two Saints).
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Chiesa Di San Giovanni In Bragora
Antonio Vivaldi was baptised in this church. Among the works of art inside is a restored triptych by Bartolomeo Vivarini, the Madonna in Trono tra I Santi Andrea e Giovanni Battista (Enthroned Madonna with St Andrew and John the Baptist). In the peaceful square just south of the church, Campiello del Piovan, the architect Giorgio Massari was born at No 3752.
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Chiesa Di San Lio
Worth a peep in this 11th-century church, if you find it open, is the magnificent ceiling fresco by Giandomenico Tiepolo, the Gloria della Croce e di San Leone IX (The Glory of the Cross and St Leon IX). On the left as you enter by the main door is a work by Titian, the Apostolo Giacomo il Maggiore (Apostle James the Great). Canaletto was baptised and, eventually, buried in this, his parish church.
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Chiesa Di San Marcuola
Although a church has been here since the 9th century, what you see was cobbled together (and not quite completed) in the 18th century by Giorgio Massari and Antonio Gaspari. Inside is an Ultima Cena (Last Supper) by Tintoretto. His Christ and apostles are spotlighted against a black background, giving the meal an extraordinary air.
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Chiesa Di San Martino
The ceiling fresco depicting the Gloria di San Martino (Glory of St Martin) attracts the eye in here. A further treasure are the canvases by Palma il Giovane showing Jesus being flogged and on the way to Calvary. The only problem is that these are in the small choir stalls behind the altar and are generally unreachable. You can glimpse them from in front of the altar. Sansovino designed the present church, completed in 1654.
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Chiesa Di San Moisè
Legend has it that the first church in this spot was founded in the 8th century, but the rather unrestrained baroque façade you see today is a product of the 1660s. Inside, among the more interesting works on view is Tintoretto's La Lavanda dei Piedi (The Washing of the Feet), in the sanctuary to the left of the main altar, and Palma il Giovane's La Cena (The Supper), on the right side of the church.
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Chiesa Di San Pantalon
The stark, unfinished brick façade dates from the 17th century, although a church was here as early as the 11th century. Inside, the greatest impact comes from the 40 canvases representing the Martirio e Gloria di San Pantaleone (Martyrdom and Glory of St Pantaleone), painted for the ceiling by Giovanni Antonio Fumiani. The artist died in a fall from scaffolding while at work and is buried in the church.
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Chiesa Di San Polo
Although of Byzantine origin, this church has lost much of its attraction through repeated interference and renovation. Worst of all, the pile-up of houses between it and the Rio di San Polo has completely obscured its façade. Inside, however, is a rich offering of Giandomenico Tiepolo's art. A whole cycle of his, the Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross), hangs in the sacristy.
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Chiesa Di San Sebastian
Veronese's final resting place, this Renaissance remake of an earlier church is often attributed to Antonio Scarpagnino (c 1505-49). Inside, Veronese went to town, decorating the interior with frescoes and canvases that cover a good deal of space on the ceiling and walls. The organ is his work, too, with scenes from Christ's life on its shutters. Titian left a notable item here as well - his San Nicolò (St Nicholas), first on the right as you enter.
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Chiesa Di San Stae
A simple house of worship dedicated to St Eustace (a probably fictitious Roman martyr who converted to Christianity, lost everything, was restored to his position and then condemned to being roasted alive with his family inside a bronze statue of a bull for refusing to carry out a pagan sacrifice), this church is deceptive. The elaborate exterior (finished in 1709 in Palladian style but with baroque touches) hides an austere interior.
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Chiesa Di San Vidal
No longer a functioning church, San Vidal has found a use as home to one of the many baroque-music groups active in Venice. If you find it open (hours are subject to whim), the main object of interest inside is Vittorio Carpaccio's San Vitale a Cavallo e Otto Santi (St Vitale on Horseback and Eight Saints) above the main altar.
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Chiesa Di Sant'alvise
Built in 1388, this church plays host to a noteworthy Tiepolo, the Salita al Calvario (Climb to Calvary), a distressingly human depiction of one of Christ's falls under the weight of the cross. The ceiling frescoes are a riot of colour.
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Chiesa Di Santa Maria Del Giglio
Also known as Santa Maria Zobenigo, this church's baroque façade is a fanciful atlas, centuries old, featuring maps of European cities as they were in 1678. The façade also hides the fact that a church has stood here since the 10th century.
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Chiesa Di Santa Maria Della Visitazione
More simply dubbed La Pietà, this church is best known for its association with the composer Vivaldi, who was concertmaster here in the early 18th century. Look for the ceiling fresco by Tiepolo. The original church was located next door, and a few fragments of it are visible in the Hotel Metropole. For many years the church was the scene of regular concerts of Vivaldi's music, but the church and instruments are off limits while renovations take place.
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Chiesa Di Santa Maria Formosa
Rebuilt in 1492 by Mauro Codussi on the site of a 7th-century church, this house of worship bears a curious name stemming from the legend behind its initial foundation. San Magno, bishop of Oderzo, is said to have had a vision of the Virgin Mary on this spot. Not just any old vision, however: in this instance she was formosa (beautiful, curvy), which hardly seems in keeping with standard views of Our Lady.
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Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Behind Palladio's grand church extend the grounds of the former monastery. Established as long ago as the 10th century by the Benedictines, it was rebuilt in the 13th century and then expanded in a series of projects that spanned the 16th century, finishing with the library built by Longhena in the 1640s.
