In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The old Chorus Pass is no longer needed: the former Chorus churches, more than 20, are free, Monday to Saturday, 10:30 to 17:00, and closed on Sundays. Four spaces inside them charge €3.50: the Santo Stefano museum, the San Zaccaria museum and crypt, the Oratory of the Crucifix at San Polo and the Redentore sacristy, and a St Mark’s Basilica ticket opens all four. The Frari is €8 and the Scuola Grande di San Rocco €12 (€14 with its church), both paid at the door and open to no pass. On Sundays the Frari opens at 13:00 and San Rocco at 13:30. Or book: the Frari’s own ticketad on GetYourGuide is from €9.50, and a two-hour walkad through San Polo takes in the Frari and the Rialto from €24.
Prices and hours
Prices and hours are from each church’s own site.
| Place | Adult | Hours | Closed or late |
|---|---|---|---|
| Former Chorus churches | Free | Monday to Saturday 10:30 to 17:00 | Sundays, 1 January, Easter, 15 August, Christmas. From 12:00 on 6 January, 1 November and 8 December |
| Santo Stefano museum, San Zaccaria museum and crypt, San Polo oratory, Redentore sacristy | €3.50, students €2.50; free with a St Mark’s Basilica ticket | Within the church’s hours; the San Zaccaria museum is open daily 10:00 to 18:00 | Sundays, except the San Zaccaria museum |
| Basilica dei Frari | €8 | Monday to Friday 9:00 to 19:30, Saturday 9:00 to 18:00 until 31 October; Monday to Saturday 9:00 to 18:00 from 1 November to Easter Sunday. Sundays and holidays 13:00 to 18:00 | Christmas, Easter, 15 August. Last entry 30 minutes before closing |
| Scuola Grande di San Rocco | €12 | Monday to Saturday 9:30 to 17:30, Sunday 13:30 to 17:30 | 1 January, Christmas, Easter. Ticket office closes 17:00 |
| Church of San Rocco | €3.50 | Monday to Saturday 9:30 to 17:30, Sunday 13:30 to 17:30 | Open every day of the year |
The free churches
The churches of the Chorus network, the association for the churches of the Venice Patriarchate, are free to enter. The Chorus visit page says free entry is collected at the church’s own ticket desk, and it lists Monday to Saturday, 10:30 to 17:00, with exceptions for some churches and for 1 January, Easter, 15 August and Christmas. A few churches keep shorter hours: the Chorus list shows San Giovanni Elemosinario on Wednesdays and Thursdays only, San Stae on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and San Giobbe on four mornings a week. Sundays are closed throughout.
Spaces inside four of them are paid, at €3.50, or €2.50 for students under 25: the Santo Stefano museum, the San Zaccaria museum and crypt, the Oratory of the Crucifix at San Polo, and the Redentore’s monumental sacristy. Children up to 11 and Venice residents go free.
One ticket opens the paid spaces. A St Mark’s Basilica ticket also allows entry, within six months of purchase, to the paid spaces in these churches, and to Torcello’s cathedral, the Salute sacristy and the Pinacoteca Manfrediniana. St Mark’s Basilica tickets has the prices.
Which free churches to pick
Six of the free churches, with the paintings Chorus names in each.
Madonna dell’Orto
Free · Monday to Saturday 10:30 to 17:00 · Cannaregio
A Venetian Gothic church on a campo that keeps its old terracotta paving. Tintoretto worked here for about thirty years, and he is buried in the apsidal chapel on the right. The Cima da Conegliano altarpiece is here too.
Madonna dell’Orto on its campo in Cannaregio. Photo: Falk2, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
San Sebastiano
Free · Monday to Saturday 10:30 to 17:00 · Dorsoduro
The church holds the most important group of paintings Veronese completed, made between 1555 and 1570, and Chorus calls it his “Sistine Chapel”.
Santo Stefano
Free · €3.50 for the sacristy museum · San Marco
The third largest monastery church in Venice after the Frari and Santi Giovanni e Paolo, with a Bartolomeo Bon portal and an inlaid wooden choir of 1488. The sacristy museum has paintings by Tintoretto.
San Zaccaria
Free church · €3.50 for the museum and crypt, daily 10:00 to 18:00 · Castello
The paid chapel of San Tarasio has three polyptychs signed in 1443 by Antonio Vivarini and Giovanni d’Alemagna, and the crypt below is flooded for much of the year by the tides.
The Redentore
Free · €3.50 for the sacristy · Giudecca
Palladio’s church, vowed by the Senate in the plague of 1575 to 1577, and the centre of the Redentore festival on the third Sunday of July. The sacristy holds Veronese’s Baptism of Christ.
The Redentore on the Giudecca, from the water. Photo: Wolfgang Moroder, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
San Giacomo dall’Orio
Free · Monday to Saturday 10:30 to 17:00 · Santa Croce
Founded in the 9th century, with a timber ship’s-keel roof and a Lorenzo Lotto altarpiece of 1546.
The Frari
€8 · Sundays from 13:00 · San Polo 3072
The Basilica dei Frari is the largest Franciscan church in Venice. Titian’s Assunta and the Pesaro Altarpiece are here, with Giovanni Bellini’s triptych, Donatello’s St John the Baptist and the tombs of Titian and Canova. You pay at the desk: €8, €5 for over-65s, €3 for students aged 12 to 29, and children under 12 and Venice residents go free. The basilica takes no passes, including Chorus and Venezia Unica, and asks for suitable clothing. Visits stop for weddings, funerals, baptisms and concerts.
The nave of the Frari towards the high altar. Photo: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
An online ticket from the basilica itself is sold on GetYourGuide at €9.50, which adds easier access and a 10% voucher for the bookshop, with free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Scuola Grande di San Rocco
€12 · €14 with the church · desk only · San Polo 3052
The Scuola Grande di San Rocco is a lay confraternity founded in 1478, and it is the only one of the historic Scuole Grandi to survive the fall of the Republic. Tintoretto decorated it with a cycle of episodes from the Old and New Testaments: more than 60 paintings stay in their original setting. The Scuola sells no tickets online and runs no guided tours. Entry is €12, the church of San Rocco alone is €3.50, and a ticket for both is €14, paid at the desk. A multimedia guide is €5 on your own device by QR code. It is three minutes from the San Tomà vaporetto stop, and the ticket office closes at 17:00.
The upper hall of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. Photo: Lessormore, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Tours worth paying for
The Frari and San Rocco stand side by side in San Polo, and a guided walk connects them to the Rialto. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.
City highlights walking tour
From €24 · 2 hours · 1,594 reviews
Venice: City Highlights Walking Tour with a Local Guidead is run by Blue Tours and Experiences in English, in a small group. It starts near Ca’ Foscari University, goes through Campo San Rocco and San Polo past the Frari, and ends at the Rialto Bridge, with a finish in Piazza San Marco. The price does not include church tickets. It is not suitable for wheelchair users. Cancel up to 24 hours ahead for a full refund.
What to see
- The Frari: Titian’s Assunta over the high altar, then the Bellini triptych.
- San Rocco: the Tintoretto cycle in the Scuola, a few minutes’ walk away.
- Madonna dell’Orto: Tintoretto’s own church, and his tomb.
- San Sebastiano: Veronese’s ceiling, altarpiece and organ doors.
- Santo Stefano: the sacristy museum, if a Basilica ticket makes it free.
What to skip: the Scuola on a day short of time. At €12 it is the most expensive entry here, and it cannot be booked online.
Best museums in Venice covers the Accademia, which has the other Venetian paintings, and free things to do in Venice gathers the free churches with the rest of what costs nothing. What to book before you go to Venice has the closed-day table, and the Rialto Bridge and market is the end of the San Polo walk. Venice in one or two days places the churches around Sunday’s closures. To stay near San Polo, see where to stay in Venice.
Common questions
Do I still need the Chorus Pass in Venice?
No. Chorus says that access to the churches in its network is free, Monday to Saturday, 10:30 to 17:00, with some spaces inside them charging €3.50. The Chorus Pass is not needed to enter them.
Which Venice churches are free?
The former Chorus churches, more than 20 of them, including Madonna dell'Orto, San Sebastiano, Santo Stefano, San Zaccaria, the Carmini, the Gesuati, San Giacomo dall'Orio, San Stae and the Redentore on the Giudecca. They are closed on Sundays.
How much is the Frari?
€8, with €5 for over-65s, €3 for students aged 12 to 29 and free entry under 12. An online ticket sold on GetYourGuide by the basilica itself is €9.50 and adds easier access and a 10% shop voucher. The Frari takes no city passes.
How much is the Scuola Grande di San Rocco?
€12 for the Scuola, €3.50 for the church alone and €14 for both, paid at the desk, because the Scuola sells no tickets online. It is open daily 9:30 to 17:30, with the ticket office closing at 17:00, and from 13:30 on Sundays.
Does the St Mark's Basilica ticket cover other churches?
Yes. Within six months of the purchase date, it opens the paid spaces in the former Chorus churches, such as the Redentore's sacristy and San Zaccaria's crypt, as well as Torcello's cathedral, the Salute sacristy and the Pinacoteca Manfrediniana.
Are Venice's churches open on Sundays?
The free Chorus churches are closed. The Frari opens from 13:00 to 18:00, San Rocco church and the Scuola from 13:30 to 17:30, and St Mark's Basilica from 14:00.
