Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Last day in Venice

It is Wednesday, May 8 and our last day in Venice.It does not feel like we have been here a week, and yet when I read what we have done it feels like a month. We had a couple places in mind for today, but also decided to just play it by ear. We ended up doing some last minute souvenir shopping which was fun. We hadn’t done much of that previously.

Our first stop today was the Frari Church, formally known as Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. This Gothic basilica, one of the largest churches in Venice was built in 1340 - 1430 and is run by the Franciscan friars. It is truly St. Mary Glorious as many of the paintings are Madonnas and other versions of the Blessed Mother’s life. We were impressed with the magnificent sculptured tombs of Titian, Pesaro, and Canova (his heart is buried here). I liked the rows of beautiful wood choir stalls hidden behind a highly decorated Baroque wall and was all ready to put on a concert!
Canova's tomb
Wall in front of choir stalls








After wondering all over this San Polo area we found the church of San Polo on the edge of the Campo San Polo, one of the largest squares in Venice. This church, dedicated to St. Paul, is the third Venetian church to have a wooden ceiling shaped like a ship’s hull. It was built in the 9th Century. It also had a separate chapel with the 14 Stations of the Cross painted by Tiepolo. They were quite striking, but I did not like his portrait of Jesus. Tintoretto's “Last Supper” was also on view.

We ended the day by returning to St. Mark’s Square to see it in better weather (although it did start to rain just as we were leaving.) We had our pass to tour the Correr Museum which is located in the wing of buildings (known as Napoleon’s wing because he built it) directly opposite St. Marks. The museum showcases rooms with frescoed ceilings and period furniture, rooms with maps and globes from centuries past, models of buildings and ships from historical periods, and much else. I liked seeing the statues of Canova since we just learned about him last week. There is also an archeological section and a library and more paintings upstairs, which we did not visit.















Now it is time to get organized to head for home early tomorrow morning!


2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed your trip, Suzanne! Wonderful photos and history. I am impressed with your energy as I sit here armchair traveling!
    :-)
    Margie

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