Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, 2025

The Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari is one of Venice's most beautiful churches. 

We call it the Frari. This front entrance is no longer used.

We now enter through this side entrance.

Down near the original entrance Bill lit a candle for a recently departed friend.

Our candle, among others, in front of the Altar of St Anthony of Padua (Giacomo Di Caterino, 1450).

A view down the nave of the church.

Walking toward the altar we pass through the Wooden Choir, built by Marco and Francesco Cozzi in 1468.

Titian's Assumption, 1518, is one of his masterpieces and one of the most famous paintings in Venice.

It really is stupendous. We took a seat in the pews and looked at it in wonder for a long time.

Taking a break from the Titian I liked this group of folding chairs grouped out of the way under an unlabelled painting.

Crucifixion painted in the 13th century.

To the left of the Assumption we found this beautiful triptych of St. Mark enthroned with Saints by Vivarini, an artist we didn't know, 1474.

Donatello sculpted this St John the Baptist in 1438.

A small, but compelling, decoration near the main altar.

This Giovanni Bellini Madonna with Child and Saints from 1488 is one of the Frari's other masterpieces.

We're back in the front of the church to have a better look at the other major Titian in the church. It is at the bottom right in this photo.

It is called the Madonna di Ca'Pesaro, 1526.

Church of Madonna dell'Orto, 2025

In the north of Cannaregio is the church which for decades Tintoretto attended with his family.

The church of Santa Maria dell'Orto is in the campo and on the rio of the same name.

It has one of the most beautiful facades in Venice -- like a gingerbread cookie with piped icing.

This is the view down the nave from the entrance.

On either side of the altar are two of the enormous, multi-figure, paintings for which Tintorettto is famous. On our right we find The Last Judgement of 1563.

On the opposite side is his Worship of the Golden Calf, 1560. Tintoretto put these here even though from where we are able to stand it is almost impossible to see them.

The Chapel of San Mauro contains a wonderful picture gallery of Venetian Saints and Blesseds.

Tintoretto painted in the church for decades. It is a treasury of his works. In the centre a Nativity from 1630.

Bill and I were most interested in Tintoretto's Presentation of the Virgin, 1553. It is hanging from the ceiling in front of the Mauro Chapel so it is easy to see.

A little girl at the bottom of the stairs has her attention drawn to the Virgin at the top.

Venice is full of stairs. Tintoretto had lots of examples to paint. Have pity on these tourists in front of the train station climbing the Scalzi Bridge.

The dell'Orto also has works by other painters. Crucifixion by Palma il Giovane, 1680.

We'll end our tour with Titian's Tobias and the Angel, 1545.

When you exit the church and look across the rio the ordinary beauty of Venice is there to delight the eye.

This is the canal to the right of the building.

A bas relief on the west side of the Campo dell'Orto.

And a close-up. Venice is full of quiet excellence.

Island of Giudecca, 2025

The San Giorgio vaporetto stops three times on the island of Guidecca on its way back to the train station.

We disembarked at Palladio's Redentore church. It is geometrically profound but as cold as an iceburg.

But I am fond of this stature of St Anthony within.

For 500 years the church has had a secret garden. It has never been open to the public until now. It has been restored after being destroyed in the flood of 2019.

All the beds and plantings are kept shipshape.

We were pleased to discover a garden of artichokes.

We'd never seen an artichoke in bloom before. We were also pleased to see the diverse insect life.

All the plants are thriving. The beds must be well irrigated.

The garden stretches from the north to the south side of Giudecca. One can gaze south into the lagoon.

An altogether enchanting place.

Giudecca one of the less touristed islands. You will get a nice break from the crowds.

We were in Venice just before the famous wedding. We saw many variations on this poster.

We've always enjoyed our walks on Giudecca.

There are good restaurants all along the way, all with posted menus to tempt the passing tourists. We liked the food and the prices of La Palanca so we asked for a table.

Our waiter resembled an Old Testament prophet.

We ate with a view of Venice across the wide canal.

We enjoyed our lunch so much we went back for a second lunch at another restaurant. Do try to make time in your Venice visit for lunch on the Giudecca.

Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, 2025

San Giorgio Maggiore lies just beyond the mouth of the Grand Canal. We reach it by vaporetto.

The island has a famous Palladio church, two art galleries and a monastery which now houses the Cini Foundation.

Bill and I have disembarked at the vaporetto stop on San Giorgio and are looking back at St Mark's Square.

Inside San Giorgio Maggiore: a Palladian Renaissance church that dwarfs the visitor.

Le Stanze della Fotografia (Photography Rooms) had a show of Mapplethorpe's most respectable pictures (no gay S&M). I had never seen this 1975 portrait of Patti Smith.

We walked to Le Stanze del Vetro (Glass Rooms) nearby. Bushes were in full spring blossom.

They had a wonderful collection of Art Deco Murano glass

originally exhibited at the Venice Biennials from 1932-1942.

The island is remarkably serene. A nice break from the chaos of St Mark's Square.

We made a second visit to the island for a tour of the Cini Foundation, located in an AD 982 monastery with a Palladio refectory and cloister.

What drew us to the Cini was a copy of Veronese's famous Wedding Feast at Cana (1563). Napoleon stole the original which is now in the Louvre.

The copy stands in its original position in the Palladio refectory. Imagine taking your meals under it day after day.

This detail features a self-portrait of Veronese in white, Tintoretto in blue and Titian in red.

The tour took us through three lovely cloisters. 

The second was designed by Palladio in 1615.

It displays an intimacy and warmth missing in his churches.

Book ahead for the tour. It sells out quickly.