Churches
From:
Venice's Top 11 Free Sights

ABOVE: St. Mark's Basin and the Grand Canal with
the Dogana (on the tip of Dorsoduro) and the Santa Maria della Salute Church.
We've already mentioned the
Basilica di San Marco, but there are scores of other churches in Venice that are
worth your time. Some have modest admission fees (you can save money with the
Chorus Pass), but some are free.
The largest and
most famous of the no-admission churches is another basilica:
Santa Maria della Salute (shown above and at right), which is near the mouth of the Grand
Canal and the Dogana di Mare (Venice's old
customs house) at the tip of Dorsoduro. The massive eight-sided building sits on
more than 100,000 wooden pilings. It was completed in 1681 as a "thank you" gift
to God and the Virgin Mary for allowing the plague to kill only a third of the
city's residents. Admission is free between 9 a.m to noon and 3 to 5:30 p.m.,
but there's a small charge to visit the sacristy.
A
few smaller churches, such as the Carmini church--also known as Santa
Maria del Carmelo--are also free. (The Carmini church is on its own square near
the Campo Santa Margherita. It shouldn't be confused with the Scuola Grande
dei Carmini, which is nearby.)
On
the island of Murano, you can enter
San Pietro Martire (inset photo) free of charge, but there's a small
admission charge at the more interesting Basilica dei Santi Maria e Donato.
At
other churches, admission may be free out of season, when there aren't enough
visitors to justify having a ticket vendor on duty. (We wandered into the
Gesuati church on a weekend in November, and there was nobody around to
collect the admission fee.) Admission is also free during religious services,
but you'll be expected to grab a spot in a pew and worship instead of wandering
around with a guidebook in hand.
Related articles:
Santa Maria della Salute Church
Venice Chorus Pass
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