Church of Madonna dell'Orto

Check out the sculpture of that warm and gentle Madonna, in the little church inside, right after the amazing Tintoretto

Gorgeous little church that we stumbled across by accident. There was a €3 entry fee. Inside was stunning with huge paintings on the walls and ornate and intricate statues

What a stunning church. From the outside it is quite nice although somewhat unassuming. Inside it is really well maintained and the artwork is beautiful. The main painter Jacobo Robusti, known as Tintoretto, rests here and his work is well preserved. The view from the main entrance is breathtaking, well worth the small entrance fee which is clearly used to maintain the site. Yes there are a lot of churches in Venice, but I would say this one is well worth a stop. I also love that they hand you a guide when you walk in, available in many languages and it is reusable so no single use pamphlets which is a nice change.

Our best church experience in Venice with an astounding series of paintings by Tintoretto - whose house you pass on the way to the church

A stunningly beautiful building with breathtaking paintings by Tintoretto. The adjacent cloister is a space of calm and tranquility.

A hidden treasure well worth visiting for its Tintoretto paintings as well as the tomb of Tintoretto himself. A visit to Madonna dell Orto is a good reason to leave crowded San Marco and explore the much quieter canals and streets of Cannareggio. The church isn't impressive at the first glance but has a lot to offer when looking closer.

Amazing area of Venice, wonderful Tinteretto masterpieces.

The Church of the Madonna dell'Orto is certainly one of the most important monuments of Venice, among the unmissable of the Cannaregio district. The exceptionally rich history and significant historical figures make this church special. A church and monastery were founded here around 1350 by the Umiliati order from Lombardy and initially dedicated to Saint Christopher, the patron saint of the gondoliers. Fra Tiberio of Parma, the leader of the Order, is said to have been responsible for the original design of the church and is buried here. The name of the church derives from an anecdote of the time. Venetian parish priest of Santa Maria Formosa was commissioned a statue of the Madonna from the Venetian sculptor Giovanni De Santi, the priest is rejected the work, then the artist temporarily placed the statue in his garden, where the sculpture began to emit strange glow especially during the night, the news spread and the garden became a pilgrimage destination for the citizens in veneration of the statue. The Scuola di San Cristoforo bought the statue, with the intention of thereby increasing offerings towards the cost of the building work, and on 18th June 1377 it was placed on the high altar. Since then the church has been known as Madonna dell'Orto. Of great interest is certainly the façade, which rises proudly and high above a large churchyard, a feature not at all obvious here in Venice. The gothic brick façade is one of Venice's most purely pleasing. The sloping galleries of apostles, carved by the Delle Masegne brothers, are unique in Venice. The central part of this imposing façade is dominated by the presence of a central rose window that allows light to penetrate inside the church, and from the entrance door, a sculptural work by Bartolomeo Bon, with the statues of Saint Christopher and the lateral statues of the Madonna and of the Archangel Gabriel, to be attributed to the chisels of Antonio Rizzo and Giovanni Fiorentino. The fame and beauty of the church are undoubtedly linked to the name of the famous painter Tintoretto who lived in the nearby Campo dei Mori. The Jacopo Robusti, in fact, left in the sanctuary ten splendid works and not only, in the left side of the apse rest, in fact, the "sacred remains" of the artist. The fascinating journey into the church of the Madonna dell'Orto, between Death and Beauty, ends with the splendid bell tower that with its 56 meters stands triumphant over the entire northern lagoon, inviting visitors to pay tribute to Tintoretto and the others protagonists of the magical Venetian sanctuary.