Chiesa di Santo Stefano

Venice


The free-standing bell tower, visible from the square behind, leans disconcertingly, but this brick Gothic church has stood tall since the 13th century. Credit for shipshape splendour goes to Bartolomeo Bon for the marble entry portal and to Venetian shipbuilders, who constructed the vast wooden carena di nave (ship’s keel) ceiling that resembles an upturned Noah’s ark.

It's well worth visiting the sacristy museum to see three extraordinary and brooding 1575–80 Tintorettos: The Last Supper, with a ghostly dog begging for bread; the gathering gloom of The Agony in the Garden; and the mostly black, surprisingly modern, Washing of the Feet. There's also a small cloister.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Venice attractions

1. Museo della Musica

0.05 MILES

Housed in the restored neoclassical Chiesa di San Maurizio, this collection of rare 17th- to 20th-century instruments is accompanied by informative panels…

2. Chiesa di San Vidal

0.11 MILES

Built by Doge Vitale Falier in the 11th century, Chiesa di San Vidal got a 1706–14 Palladian facelift to commemorate Doge Francesco Morosoni's victory…

3. Museo Fortuny

0.12 MILES

Find design inspiration at the palatial home studio of art nouveau designer Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo (1871–1949), whose uncorseted Delphi-goddess frocks…

4. Chiesa di Santa Maria del Giglio

0.13 MILES

Founded in the 9th century but almost completely rebuilt in the late 17th century, this church is distinguished by a series of six relief maps on its…

5. Palazzo Franchetti

0.14 MILES

This 16th-century palazzo (mansion) passed through the hands of various Venetian families before Archduke Frederik of Austria snapped it up and set about…

6. La Fenice

0.14 MILES

Once its dominion over the high seas ended, Venice discovered the power of the high Cs, opening La Fenice in 1792. Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini staged…

7. Palazzo Grassi

0.15 MILES

Grand Canal gondola riders gasp at their first glimpse of the massive sculptures by contemporary artists docked in front of Giorgio Masari’s neoclassical…

8. Ponte dell’Accademia

0.16 MILES

The wooden Ponte dell’Accademia was built in 1933 as a temporary replacement for an 1854 iron bridge, but this span, arched like a cat’s back, remains a…