Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice

The Frari is a vast Venetian Gothic church built in brick and stone, and its plain exterior gives little hint of what waits inside. This is a minor basilica dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, with a long history of art, burial, and Franciscan worship. The present building grew from a church begun in 1250 and took more than a century to complete.

Its plan forms a Latin cross, with three naves, a vaulted Gothic roof, and six chapels beside the main chapel. The interior is especially remarkable for its concentration of monuments: Venetian doges, military leaders, artists, and churchmen are commemorated in marble and stone. Look toward the high altar for Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin, one of the great paintings preserved here.

Another major Titian altarpiece, the Pesaro Madonna, is kept in a chapel. Titian himself is buried in the basilica, while Antonio Canova also has a monument here. A particularly unusual survivor is the rood screen, a large choir enclosure still standing in its medieval position before the main altar. The Frari also preserves Venice’s sole surviving rood screen in its original setting, making this barrier an essential part of the building’s story.