10 beautiful churches to visit in Venice

Venice doesn't need any presentation, it is simply the most romantic and beautiful city in the world: with its canals cruised by the traditional Venetian boats called gondole, its squares where princesses and kings had strolled into and its monumental Palaces decorated with masterpieces made by the most famous artists.

Venice is also renowned for its beautiful churches, unique in the world and heritage of the historical role that Venice played in the past as a bridge between East and West. Indeed, thanks to its peculiar architecture which is the result of more than 15 centuries of history, Venice owns a unique building style: most of the buildings follow the Venetian Gothic style, a mix of the Byzantine and Ottoman influence with the traditional Gothic lines. However, there are also buildings and churches made in Renaissance and Italian Baroque style.

From the famous Saint Mark Cathedral to the Armenian churches with their specific rituals and liturgy, follow our thematic guide about the most 10 beautiful churches to visit during a holiday in Venice.

Called the marble church because of its stunning facade covered by policrome marble, the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli is located in the sestiere of Cannaregio in Venice. Designed and decorated by Pietro Lombardo and his sons in the XV century, this small church represents a great example of the Venetian Renaissance with two different facades: one made with wonderful cluster and rose windows and the other one with a big dome. Inside the church, decorated with a ornamental marble stair and with a coffered ceiling, it is visible the miracle imagine of the Virgin and Child.

Built in the smallest sestiere of Venice called San Polo, the homonyms church is a small religious building of the XV century, with a simple Gothic facade and a bell tower, which was incorporated by other buildings realized afterwards. The interior of the church of San Polo hosts three wonderful paintings made by some of the most famous Italian artists: The last supper by Jacopo Tintoretto, The marriage of the Virgin by Paolo Veronese and the Glory of Angels and Resurrection by Giandomenico Tiepolo.

Located in the largest sestiere of Venice, the Saint Peter of Castello church is one of the most ancient church of the city, rebuilt several times during its history. The current church is the result of many works and restorations and was built from the original designs made by Palladio in the XVI century. Seat of Patriarch of Venice until the XVIII century, Saint Peter of Castello church hosts inside the chair of Saint Peter which, according to a legend, was used by the Apostle during his life in Antiochia. Legend apart, its back was made using an Islamic funerary stele with Arabic decorations and verses of the Quran.

Built in a small island in front of the Venice's Lido, Saint Lazarus of the Armenians church is a religious building of the Armenians Catholic congregation since the XVIII century. The entire island is occupied by the church while the monastery, inhabited by the Mekhitarist monks, hosts a library with more than 10.000 ancient books and manuscripts. The Saint Lazarus church, restored several times in the past, owes its current shape to the works made until the XVIII century. The island and the church have been dedicated to Saint Lazarus, the patron saint of lepers, because of the role played by this small island in the past as a leper hospital during the Middle Age.

It is the most important Orthodox church of Venice one of the sign of the role played in the past by Venice as a bridge between East and West, Saint George of the Greek' is a monumental church built in sestiere of Castello after the Greek diaspora of the XV century. The exterior, featured by a great dome and a bell tower built in the XV century, is the result of a project made by Sante Lombardo; the interior is decorated by orthodox iconostasi made by two of the most important Greek iconographers, Damaskinos and Tzanes-Bounialis. The walls of the dome were instead painted by John the Cypriot under the supervision of the famous Venetian painter Tintoretto.

It is one of the largest church in the city, known by Venetians as San Zanipolo, the Saint John and Paul Cathedral is a Gothic style church built in the XV century and located in the sestiere of Castello. Elected as the burial palace of the doges (the chief governors of the city) the facade is made of pimple red bricks and the interior are decorated by several masterpieces such as The Assumption painted by Paolo Veronese and The Saint Vincent Ferrer altarpiece by Giovanni Bellini. The Saint John and Paul cathedral also hosts the Madonna of Peace, a miraculous byzantine imagine, and a relic of Saint Catherine of Siena.