San Polo & Santa Croce

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Fruit and vegetable stall at Rialto produce Market.

Overview

Heavenly devotion and earthly delights coexist in San Polo and Santa Croce, where divine art rubs up against the ancient red-light district, now home to artisan workshops and osterie (taverns). Don’t miss fraternal-twin masterpieces: Titian’s glowing Madonna at I Frari and turbulent Tintorettos at Scuola Grande di San Rocco. Quirky museums fill Grand Canal palazzi (mansions) with fashion and natural history oddities, while island-grown produce crams the stalls of the Rialto Market.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Venice, Italy - February 15th, 2014 : People walking in the square San Rocco in front of a renaissance palace called Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice, Italy. 534805231 Editorial, Mediterranean Countries, Travel, Tourism, Photography, Building Exterior, Cloudscape, Large Group Of People, Color Image, Walking, Renaissance, History, White, Green Color, Brown, Blue, Ancient, Old, Cultures, Architecture, Travel Destinations, Vacations, Outdoors, Horizontal, Tourist, People, Venice - Italy, Italy, Europe, Tree, Day, Cloud - Sky, Sky, Town Square, Palace, Built Structure, City, Town, Style, Mediterranean Culture, Scuola Grande Di San Rocco

    Scuola Grande di San Rocco

    San Polo & Santa Croce

    Everyone wanted the commission to paint this building dedicated to St Roch, patron saint of the plague-stricken, so Tintoretto cheated: instead of…

  • Venice, Italy - November 2022: Madonna with child and saints; Frari triptych painting by Giovanni Bellini from 1488 in the Sacristy altar - Pesaro's Chapel inside the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Glorious St. Mary of Frari 1487677718 nicholas, peter, saint benedict, saint peter, heritage, mark, saint nicholas, frari, saint mary, madonna, madonna with child, st. mark, st. benedict, sacristy, saint mark, giovanni bellini, benedict

    I Frari

    San Polo & Santa Croce

    A soaring Gothic church, the Friary's assets include marquetry choir stalls, Canova's pyramid mausoleum, Bellini's achingly sweet Madonna with Child…

  • Venice, Italy - 5 April 2016: Fishmongers set up their stalls with a variety of fresh fish, including giant swordfish, at the Rialto fish market, Venice, Italy 519462692 European Culture, Tourism, Men, Fame, Fish Vendor, Color Image, Swordfish, Prepared Fish, Swordfish, Trading, Market Stall, History, Freshness, Colors, International Landmark, Famous Place, Travel Destinations, Urban Scene, Trader, People, Rialto Bridge, Venice - Italy, Italy, Europe, Fish, Market, City, Seafood, Food

    Rialto Market

    San Polo & Santa Croce

    Venice’s main market has been whetting appetites for seven centuries, with fruit and vegetable stands abutting the rather more pungent Pescaria. To see it…

  • Venice, Italy - November 02, 2021: The Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista in Venice, Italy. Building located in the San Polo sestiere of the Italian city of Venice

    Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista

    San Polo & Santa Croce

    One of Venice's five main religious confraternities, the lay brothers of St John the Evangelist performed works of charity but also supported the arts by…

  • View of the natural history museum in Venice over the grand canal,; Shutterstock ID 200674658; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; GL account no.: 65050/Online Design/Josh Vogel/ ; Netsuite department name: Online Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: iyl

    Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia

    San Polo & Santa Croce

    Never mind the doge: insatiable curiosity rules Venice, and inside the former Fondaco dei Turchi (Turkish Trading House) it runs wild. The adventure…

  • Ca’ Pesaro

    Ca’ Pesaro

    San Polo & Santa Croce

    The stately exterior of this Baldassare Longhena–designed 1710 palazzo hides two intriguing art museums that could hardly be more different: the Galleria…

  • VENICE, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 16: A woman admires some dresses belonging to the collection of Alexander Vassiliev during the press preview of "Elegance in Exhile" at Palazzo Mocenigo on September 16, 2011 in Venice, Italy. "L'Eleganza in Esilio" tells the story of the cultural atmosphere and ambiance of the Russian elite at the beginning of 1900 and the international prestige of Djagilev's famous Russian Ballets. (Photo by Marco Secchi/Getty Images) 125205363 Fashion, Human Interest

    Palazzo Mocenigo

    San Polo & Santa Croce

    Venice received a dazzling addition to its property portfolio in 1945 when Count Alvise Nicolò Mocenigo bequeathed his family's 17th-century palazzo to…

  • Venice, Italy - May 22, 2015: View across the Grand Canal of the new art gallery Fondazione Prada in Venice, Italy. On a rainy day in May. 477533506 Prada, Building Exterior, Overcast, Art, Art Museum, Urban Scene, Outdoors, Horizontal, Image, Grand Canal - Venice, Venice - Italy, Veneto, Italy, Springtime, Rain, Water, Canal, City, Nautical Vessel, May

    Fondazione Prada

    San Polo & Santa Croce

    This stately Grand Canal palace – designed by Domenico Rossi and completed in 1728 – has been commandeered by Fondazione Prada, which is renovating the…

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