Chiesa di San Giovanni Elemosinario (Church of St. John the Almsgiver), Venice

The Church of Saint John the Almsgiver is easy to miss—and that’s part of the story. Wedged tightly between neighboring buildings, it keeps a low profile, with only its 15th-century bell tower rising above the rooftops to announce that a church is even here.

Founded in the 11th century, it nearly vanished in the devastating fire of 1514 that tore through the Rialto area. The blaze spared just the bell tower. When the church was rebuilt between 1527 and 1529, under designs by Antonio Abbondi (generally known as Scarpagnino), the tower gained a new civic role: each evening, its bell rang to signal that all fires in the district were to be put out—an early form of urban fire control in a neighborhood that had learned its lesson the hard way...

Once inside, the mood pivots from everyday utility to painted spectacle. Most of what you see dates from the decades after the reconstruction, when the church became a showcase for Venetian art. Several works by Palma il Giovane line the interior, alongside paintings by Leonardo Corona. The visual anchor, however, is the high altarpiece by Titian, Saint John the Almsgiver, depicting the 7th-century Patriarch of Alexandria as a figure of authority tempered by charity.

Nearby, Italian Mannerist painter Pordenone delivers a very different kind of energy in Saints Catherine, Sebastian, and Roch: a powerfully built Sebastian, almost defiantly exposed; a focused Saint Catherine, eyes lifted skyward; and Saint Roch casually revealing a healed leg—a quiet nod to survival after the plague. Look up to the cupola, and you’ll find Pordenone again, this time filling the space with sturdy, muscular cherubs that feel more physical than ethereal.

Indeed, for a church that hides so well on the outside, it leaves a strong impression once you’re in.