Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari Basilica
(Holy Glorious St. Mary of the Friars)

Great Discoveries "Personal Tour Guides" will provide you with the most enjoyable and informative way to visit the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. Our carefully researched tour identifies and locates the most relevant treasures to ensure that you do not miss important works and that you clearly understand each item's artistic and historic significance. As you view these carefully selected treasures, our professional narrators, accompanied by historically appropriate background music, will delight, amuse and inform you, making your visit a most memorable experience. Learn about the beautiful Frari cathedral, famous for its art, and also as the burial place of Titian and other rich and famous Venetian citizens, with informative descriptions, photo's, building diagrams, sample audio tracks and more.

The Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, also known as Santa Maria Assunta, is the mother church for Venice’s Franciscan Order. It is one of the city’s most important monuments and one of the most beautiful Gothic churches in Italy. St. Francis of Assisi began his religious movement in Italy around 1200. His spiritual group, called Franciscans, consisted of people who chose to serve and worship God in religious simplicity and poverty. The religious order of Franciscan friars took their name from the Latin “fraters” meaning brothers.

They arrived in Venice in 1225 and were gifted the land upon which the present Basilica stands. In 1231, they built their first church of wood and bricks, which they quickly outgrew and then demolished. Construction of the second church was begun by the Lesser Friars Franciscan Order, popularly known by the name Frari. They laid the first stone in 1250 and renamed the church Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari or Holy Glorious St. Mary of the Friars. By 1330, they had outgrown their new building and they commissioned the renowned Venetian architect Scipione Bon to enlarge and redecorate it. Bon began construction in 1330 but died long before his masterpiece was completed, some ninety years later, around 1420.

This monument is truly unique, not only for the purity of the Gothic style, but also for the famous works of art it contains and its historical importance. The spectacular interior is most famous for its art and the monumental tombs of rich and famous Venetians it contains.

The Basilica, which is in the shape of a Latin cross, is a classic example of a Gothic style which can only be described as Franciscan because it avoids the pomp and ostentation of spires, pinnacles and flying buttresses while highlighting the harmony, beauty and simplicity of its lines. The warmth of the brick facade with white Istrian stone trim accentuates the simplicity and innocent charm of the building. The harmony and beauty of the lines, spaces, vaults, ribbing and crosses render this building a true masterpiece of Venetian art and history.

The church’s plain exterior belies the magnificence of its interior. Upon entering, visitors become dumbstruck by the grandness of the architecture and many treasures contained therein. Twelve mighty columns, representing the twelve apostles, hold up the sky of the Basilica, which is composed of beams, ribbing, keystones with figures, webs and ogives, which harmoniously intertwine, overlap and intermingle. The side aisles are lined with spectacular monumental tombs to Venice's, if not great and good, then certainly rich and sometimes famous citizens.

The grandeur of its architecture, the harmony of its lines, the magnificent monuments along the walls, the gradual rise of the double order of steps, the stained-glass windows shining above and casting their soft glow below, seem to move ones eye towards a single point, “the Assumption” by Titian, the most precious of all of the Basilica’s masterpieces. Everything focuses from above, drawing one's eye toward the brilliant light, which holds the visitor in a sense of inexpressible spiritual wonder.

The totality of the setting adds to the power and splendor that have made Titian's masterpiece famous throughout the centuries. The artist knew exactly how to use the whole of the architecture to perfectly frame his painting, which the great sculptor Canova described as the most beautiful picture in the world. Titian is buried here, in the Frari, in a rather simple tomb designed by Canova, which stands along the right aisle of the church.

The Frari contains many other masterpieces by some of the greatest Renaissance artist, in fact too many to mention in this writing. There is however, another exceptional work, which demands some attention, a wooden statue of "John the Baptist", carved by the great 15th century Florentine master, Donatello. It is the only statue by Donatello left in Venice and one of his masterpieces.

In the middle of the central nave, in accordance with the liturgical rules of the time, is an old monks’ choir, which is the only surviving example to have kept its original structure still standing in Venice today. It is a masterpiece by a family of wood carvers, the Cozzi family of Vicenza. The Basilica also holds a crystal vase that contains the Frari’s most important relic, the precious blood of Christ. The vase contains a balm, supposedly mixed with a few drops of Christ’s blood collected by Mary Magdalene.

The Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari is a wonder of Venetian architecture containing a remarkable amount of art and history. The Frari should be a necessary stop on the itinerary of every visitor to Venice.

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The Frari Interior	Altar of the Assumption
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