Santa Croce, Venice

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We passed at the opposite side of the train station and walked to the right of San Simeon Piccolo (the one with the green cupola on the top). We walked along fondamenta dei Tolentini(pic 1) which was empty (probably because the sun was high on the sky and 95% of the tourists were already at San Marco).

First we noticed San Nicolo da Tolentino(pic 2), a church that was started to built at the end of 16th century but completed only in 1714, originally designed by Scamozzi in 1590 but the façade was designed by Tirali in 1714. It is located at campo dei Tolentini and the Corinthian portico somehow surprised me. The interior is also interesting with paintings from Giordano, Giovane etc It is open daily 9.30-12.00, 16.00-18.00 and there is no entrance fee.

At campo San Rocco you can visit Scuola Grande di San Rocco. San Rocco is knows for his miraculous recovery from the plague. In the first place I just wanted to take pictures of the exterior but the interior (it is open daily 9.00-17.30 and with an entrance fee of 7 euros) houses some amazing paintings by Tintoretto. The church of San Rocco (pic 3) (next to the Scuola) was built in 1489 with a nice façade that was made in 1771. San Rocco is buried in the church and you can also admired some paintings by Tintoretto.

It was time to visit Santa Maria gloriosa dei Frari (pic 4), a huge gothic church full of red bricks that was built in 1338 while the high campanile (second highest after San Marco’s) in 1396. It is located at campo dei Frari that was occupied by a giant group of Japanese tourists that were trying to take pictures of every single brick (ok, maybe they missed some). The church is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary and has so many things to see inside that it works perfect as a museum too. I was surprised of the light interior with some great pieces of renaissance art (paintings and sculptures). I loved Titian’s paintings (he is buried in the church). The church is open 9.00-18.00 and the entrance fee is 3 euros.

At the end of our walk, I wanted to check San Pantalon church but we were so tired and hungry that we returned back to our room for some rest. Next time I will visit the church because its famous for its great ceiling painting by G.Antonio Fumiani at the end of the 17th century.