The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, usually just called Basilica dei Frari, is located in the heart of the San Polo district (Venice). It is one of the most prominent churches of the city and it’s dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.
In 1231, under Doge Jacopo Tiepolo, the city donated land at this site to establish a monastery and church belonging to the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor. The church proved too small and was subsequently enlarged twice; the latter work was started under Jacopo Celega, but completed by his son Pier Paolo in 1396. The facade was not completed until 1440, with the cornice surmounted by three statues made by Lorenzo Bregno.
The imposing edifice is built of brick, and it still mostly retains its original Venetian Gothic appearance. The exterior is rather plain, even on the front facade. The interior is notable for a large number of big wall monuments devoted to distinguished Venetians buried in the church, including a number of Doges and the painter Titian. Particularly relevant, the funeral monument to Antonio Canova; it is a pyramidal marble group raised in 1827 in memory of the sculptor Antonio Canova and on the model that Canova himself had prepared (only his heart is buried here).
The paintings include two large and important altarpieces by Titian, the Assumption of the Virgin on the high altar and the Pesaro Madonna.