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Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

Titian's Masterpiece and Burial Place

The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari began in the 14th century and features a 70-meter high bell tower. The church houses numerous paintings and sculptures by artists such as Titian and Donatello. The Assumption of the Virgin, main altarpiece by Titian in 1518, is the most famous one.

The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, usually called the Frari, begun in the 14th century, has a modest red-brick facade and a 70 Meters High Bell Tower, the second-highest in Venice after St. Mark’s Campanile (Campanile di San Marco).

The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, houses a collection of artworks, the most famous of which is the Altarpiece Assumption of the Virgin completed by the Renaissance master Titian in 1518. It’s a masterpiece with bold use of color and composition, depicting the Virgin Mary ascending into heaven surrounded by angels, who can imagine it’s completed by a 26-year-old artist.

The main altar faces a group Carved Wooden Choir Stalls from the 15th century. It has 124 seats on three rows, with the upper row covered with beautiful carvings.

More paintings and sculptures by famous artists can be seen in niches in the chapels and on either side of the hall, such as another Titian's Masterpiece Pesaro Madonna, Donatello's Figure of St. John the Baptist, Giovanni Bellini’s Frari Triptych, and Bartolomeo Vivarini’s Madonna and Child with Saints.

Many famous people of Venetian are buried in the Frari, including the painter Titian's Monument, the sculptor Canova's Monument, as well as several Venetian Doges. Most of these tombstones and monuments are sculpted by famous artists, being an important part of the church’s artistic treasury.