When in Italy, it doesn't matter what your religion is. Going inside a church doesn't always have to be connected to your belief.
Venice has many stunning churches that deserve to be visited for their beauty and their history.
I made this list because there is something that I never miss seeing: religious buildings around the world, of every religion.
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Read 15 Most Beautiful Churches in Venice Below
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1. Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute:
In 1630, Venice was hit by a terrible plague epidemic that killed many people.
When finally, in 1631, the epidemic stopped, the Venetians decided to thank the Madonna for having freed the city, building in her honour the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, one of the best expressions of Baroque architecture in Venice.
Built at the Punta della Dogana area, its large dome is an unmistakable presence in the panorama of the San Marco area.
The architecture develops around an octagonal central body surrounded by six smaller chapels. Inside, in addition to the dominant main high altar, you will see many works of art inside the side chapels.
An example is the canvas Descent of the Holy Spirit by Titian, San Girolamo Miani by Giovanni Maria Morlaiter and sculptural works by Tommaso Rues.
Entrance Free.
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2. Basilica of San Marco:
The Cathedral that dominates Piazza San Marco/St Mark Square is one of the most admired symbols of artistic and architectural beauty.
Its opulent elegance summarises different styles embellished and harmonized by sumptuous decorations of mosaics, marbles, columns, and sculptures.
It is also known as the Golden Church.
The Basilica of San Marco represents a symbol of the whole of Christianity and the emblem of the wealth obtained in the past by Venice, once the most powerful Maritime Republic in the Mediterranean.
Entering the portal of the Basilica, you will enter a real treasure, made of colours, gold and pomp recalling the typical Byzantine style. The walls, vaults and domes of the Basilica are, in fact, entirely covered with mosaics.
Entrance is Free, but the queue is often so long you will have to wait more than 1 hour to enter the Cathedral. I advise you to book the combined ticket to visit St Mark's Basilica and Doge's Palace to save a lot of time, and to have a tour guide to learn everything about this beautiful Cathedral.
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3. St Mose Church:
This church honours Moisè Venier, the aristocrat who funded the reconstruction during the 9th century. San Moisè is the parish church of one of the parishes in the Vicariate of San Marco-Castello.
St Mose church is Venices most unique church, not only for its elegant exterior but its name.
Entrance Free.
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4. Chiesa delle Zitelle (Santa Maria della Presentazione):
Le Zitelle is part of a former complex that gave shelter to young maidens with no property and is located in the easternmost part of the Giudecca island. The church has a large dome with a lantern.
Designed by Andrea Palladio, it enjoys one of the most beautiful and privileged views of St. Mark's Square.
It was built between 1581 and 1588, and it is the third Palladian focus, after S. Giorgio and the Redentore, in the ambitious plan to enhance the view across the lagoon from St. Mark's.
Entrance Free.
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5. San Salvador Church:
This church is located on Campo San Salvador, along the Merceria, the main shopping street in Venice. It was consecrated for the first time in 1177 by Pope Alexander III shortly after his reconciliation with the emperor Federico Barbarossa in San Marco.
However, the current church was started around 1508 by Giorgio Spavento and continued after his death the following year by Tullio Lombardo, Vincenzo Scamozzi and perhaps Jacopo Sansovino.
Entrance Free
6. Santa Maria del Giglio Church:
The edifice is situated on the Campo Santa Maria Zobenigo, west of the Piazza San Marco.
It was rebuilt by Giuseppe Sardi for Admiral Antonio Barbaro between 1678 and 1681 and had one of the finest Venetian Baroque facades in all of Venice.
The church is now part of the parish of San Moisè.
Entrance Free
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So you will know where to go for a quick and delicious bite between visiting a museum and admiring a church.
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7. San Giacomo di Rialto Church:
Also known as San Giacometto, is believed to be the oldest church in Venice. Its typical cross plan was first built in 421, the year the city was founded according to tradition. The church we see today is the result of restoration work in 1601.
Entrance Free.
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8. The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari:
Usually just called the Frari, it is a church located in the Campo dei Frari at the heart of the San Polo district of Venice, Italy. One of the most prominent churches in the city, it has the status of a minor basilica. The church is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.
Entrance Free.
9. Santa Maria dei Miracoli Church:
It was built between 1481 and 1489 on a project by Pietro Lombardo to give a worthy place to the icon of the Virgin venerated since 1408.
The church became one of the best examples of the Venetian Renaissance: coloured marbles, false colonnade on the walls, semicircular pediment.
Entrance Free.
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10. San Giorgio Maggiore church:
It is a 16th-century Benedictine church of the same name in Venice, northern Italy, designed by Andrea Palladio and built between 1566 and 1610. The church is a basilica in the classical renaissance style, and its brilliant white marble gleams above the blue water of the lagoon.
Entrance Free.
How to get to San Giorgio Maggiore Island: Vaporetto/water bus line 2 from San Marco Zaccaria stop/
11. Il Redentore church:
This church was built as a votive church in thanksgiving for deliverance from a significant plague outbreak that decimated Venice between 1575 and 1576.
In which 46,000 people (25–30% of the population) died.
A small number of Friars reside in the monastery attached to the church.
The church of the Redentore is not only one of the most famous and venerated churches in Venice, but it's also the centrepiece of one of the city's most deeply felt public celebrations (the Feast of the Redentore, on the third Sunday of July).
Do you want to know more about Venice?
Check out all my articles in the "Most Complete Guide of Venice" and get all the information you need to make your next travel a success.
12. Santa Maria Della Pieta' church:
The church of Santa Maria della Pietà or della Visitazione is prominent in the sestiere of Castello in Venice. It is sited on the Riva degli Schiavoni, a short walk from the Doge's Palace.
The present church of Santa Maria della Visitazione, or della Pietà as it is popularly known, a jewel of Venetian architecture, was built between 1745 and 1760 according to the design of Giorgio Massari.
The original church of the XV century stood on the area of the present Hotel Metropole. The facade, imitating the classical style with tympanum and twin columns, was incomplete at the lower third of the columns and was completed in 1906 following the original Massari model.
Entrance Free.
13. The Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo:
It is located in the Castello district and represents one of the most important medieval architecture in the whole city. Its structure is imposing but at the same time slender and slender.
Its high brick facade pens in the centre in a large rose window.
At the same time, in the upper part, the verticality is accentuated by three white aedicules with the statues of Dominican saints: San Pietro Martire, San Tommaso d'Aquino and San Domenico.
Entrance Free.
Do you want to see everything Venice has to offer and save money at the same time?
Check here all the activities and tours available. You won't regret it!
14. The Chiesa di Santo Stefano:
Chiesa di Santo Stefano is a large Roman Catholic church at the northern end of the Campo Santo Stefano in the sestiere of San Marco.
After the Frari and the Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Santo Stefano is the third largest monastery church in Venice.
Built by the Augustinian Hermits in the XIII century, this church was restructured a century later, and subsequent embellishments made it into one of the finest examples of Venetian Flamboyant Gothic architectures.
Entrance Free.
15. The Church of Saint Roch:
It is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Roch. It was built between 1489 and 1508 by Bartolomeo Bon the Younger but was substantially altered in 1725. The church is one of the Plague-churches constructed in Venice.
Entrance Free.
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