From the outside, the brick Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari (the Frari Church) looks rather plain. But step inside and you are surrounded by some of the greatest beauty of the Italian Renaissance. Built for the Fransicans in the 14th and 15th centuries, the design itself is simple - although having the choir stalls in the middle of the church is an unusual feature - but the art that the monks commissioned more than makes up for it.
The most significant painting is Titian's Assumption of 1518 over the altar. It changed painting forever. There are also side chapels full of art, and in the main church, the tombs of significant wealthy Venetians battle for supremacy. Titian himself is buried here in an impressive tomb and the sculptor Antonio Canova has a pyramid-shaped monument!
