Scuola Grande dei Carmini

A wonderful place to visit with a bundle of history

Wonderful place to sit and have a prayer so quiet and relax

We did small opera there. Very good !

Nice show in the evening.

Performance was overpriced and terrible. Not worth the money and I should have read reviews before visiting. Tourist trap

Too pricy, not enough to see. For this price you can enter a nice exhibition in ghent/belgium.

The Scuola grande dei Carmini is situated in Dorsoduro in the heart of Venice, between Campo dei Carmini and Campo Santa Margherita, upon which its facade looks. It stands, separated by an alley, to the northeast of the church of Santa Maria dei Carmini.The Scuola is especially known for its great artistic works by Giambattista Tiepolo and Piazzetta. Though not officially founded until the year 1594 under Doge Pasquale Cicogna, and was the last of its kind to be recognized as a Scuola Grande in 1767 by the Council of Ten, the Scuola Grande dei Carmini traces its roots to 1286, when the institution was established as one of the earliest civic and charitable confraternities in Venice. Work on the Scuola Grande continued from 1626, when the order expanded its original building, through 1668, when it acquired a second building to accommodate its growing needs. The confraternity commissioned Baldassare Longhena to redesign both structures and produce a single, unified façade for the two buildings. Longhena, whose work in Venice (including the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute) made him one of the period’s most celebrated architects, worked on the project until his death in 1682. Construction continued under Longhena’s associate, the architect Antonio Gaspari. Works by contemporary Venetian painters and sculptors decorate interior spaces, and nine ceiling canvases by Giambattista Tiepolo, completed in 1739, adorn the scuola’s Sala Capitolare ( the Chapter Hall ). A magnificent hall was used for Scuola meetings. The hall was decorated between 1664 and 1674 by Domenico Bruni. The main altar is dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, protector of the brotherhood, the painting of the altarpiece, an oil on canvas of the Venetian painter Sante Piatti, represents it.

Venue for the opera Dido & Aeneas. Excellent location for an excellent musical experience.