Paolo Veronese did not have far to walk to work.

His parish church stood in this quiet corner of Dorsoduro, and over the years he filled it with almost everything you now see inside. This slice of the Veronese Walk – Walk No. 14 in 17 Walks in Venice – begins at that church, San Sebastiano, and follows the canals north-east past an archangel guiding a boy with a fish, a Gothic palazzo, and a doorway that remembers one of the city’s most remarkable women.

It is a short stretch that carries more than its share of the city’s story.

San Sebastiano, Veronese’s parish church

The route arrives along Fondamenta de San Basegio. After about eighty metres you reach Ponte de San Sebastian, and beside it the church of San Sebastiano, POI #11.

The first religious house here was founded in 1396 by the Hermits of Saint Jerome. The present Renaissance church took shape from 1506 under Antonio Abbondi, called Scarpagnino, and was consecrated in 1562.

The façade came later, in 1548. It is divided into two parts, bounded by four pairs of Corinthian columns carrying a large tympanum. Three statues stand at the top: Saint Sebastian in the middle, complete with arrow, Saint Jerome on the left, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria on the right.

This was Veronese’s parish church. He worked here in several phases between 1555 and 1570, making San Sebastiano one of Venice’s great surviving in-situ Veronese ensembles. He is buried here, to the left of the presbytery; the church also contains Titian’s St Nicholas.

For art lovers, the church is a must-see, and for particular reasons: the quality and consistency in the theme of the paintings, the seamless blend of art and architecture, and the fact that the work is seen in its original context. That is a different experience from exploring a gallery – and one Venice offers more readily than most cities in the world.

The church and convent were suppressed under Napoleon. The former convent is now part of Ca’ Foscari’s San Sebastiano campus.

Angelo Raffaele, Tobias and the dog

Turn left as you leave the church (or right, if you are passing by it) and cross Campo San Sebastian. After about forty metres, bear right across Campazzo San Sebastian and continue into Campo drio il Cimitero. Here stands the church of Angelo Raffaele, POI #12.

Angelo Raffaele is traditionally counted among Venice’s oldest churches. The present structure was rebuilt from 1618 to a design by Francesco Contin and completed around 1640; the later façade dates from 1735, with reconsecration in 1740. The church once housed the altar of the confraternity of ferrymen, followers of the Madonna and the Archangel Raphael, established in 1508.

Look up for the statue group of Tobias, Raphael, the dog and the fish. The fish is part of the Book of Tobit story: its organs heal Tobias’s father and drive away the demon, while the dog accompanies the travellers at their feet. The group appears more than once here: versions can be found on the façade, at the back of the church, and on the well.

This is one of only two churches in Venice that stand entirely free, meaning you can walk all the way around. It is worth doing. A quick diversion to the southern side of the church finds a pretty vera da pozzo dated 1349.

Inside, the artworks feature Palma il Giovane and Giovanni Antonio Guardi – older brother of Francesco, the view painter. Guardi’s works here show scenes from the life of Tobias, from around 1750.

Palazzo Ariani and its tracery

Leaving the church, go over the bridge and continue for about seventy metres, where you will come to Palazzo Ariani Cicogna at No. 2376, POI #13.

This is a beautiful example of a Gothic palazzo, and a reminder that even in the hidden corners of the city, architectural gems wait. Note the elaborate patterns formed by the stone around the tops of the windows, interlocking with the pointed arches – tracery, to give it its name – which will likely remind you of the Doge’s Palace.

The building dates to the mid-fourteenth century and was later converted into a school.

Ponte del Socorso and Veronica Franco

Continue north-east along the fondamenta for about seventy metres and you will soon be at Ponte del Socorso. Look along the canal as you cross.

At Nos. 2585–87 stands the Oratorio del Soccorso, POI #15. Here the story turns to Veronica Franco (1546–1591), the celebrated courtesan, poet and philanthropist. The charitable institution associated with her initiative dates to the late 1570s or around 1580, moved to this site in 1593, and later had its chapel consecrated in 1609. It offered refuge to women trying to escape prostitution or sexual exploitation, and to women Venetian society had cast aside.

Franco is one of the memorable figures of sixteenth-century Venice, and her name survives here not in marble but in an address: a house of refuge on a quiet canal.

Sixty metres further along is Ca’ Zenobio, constructed in 1690 and home to the College of the Armenians since 1850. Access to the palazzo and the pretty gardens at the rear depends on what exhibitions are taking place. If you can go in, look for the ‘hall of mirrors’.

Palazzina Briati and a column from Greece

Almost opposite, on the other side of the canal, stands Ca’ Foscari-Palazzina Briati, POI #16, which now houses offices and classrooms of the university.

In the garden of Palazzina Briati stands a column from the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, dated 444–440 BC. The winged Lion of St Mark on top was added in the nineteenth century. You will need to double back over the canal for a closer view.

It is an unexpected thing to find in a front garden – a piece of the Aegean standing quietly beside a Venetian canal.

Walking context

This article covers a later section of Walk No. 14, the Veronese Walk in Dorsoduro.

The full walk begins near the Accademia and follows the fondamente of western Dorsoduro, reaching this slice by way of the church of Ognissanti at POI #10. From Palazzina Briati, the route continues about eighty metres east to the church of Santa Maria dei Carmini, POI #17, and closes at the Scuola Grande dei Carmini, POI #18, near Campo Santa Margherita.

The walk pairs well with its Dorsoduro neighbours: the Barnabotti Walk, No. 13, which takes in Campo Santa Margherita close to where this walk ends, and the Salute Walk, No. 12. The full route can be followed on the Dorsoduro walking map.

Practical visitor notes

San Sebastiano is the essential stop on this stretch for art lovers – a rare chance to see a great painter’s work in the setting it was made for.

Angelo Raffaele rewards a slow circuit on foot, and the wellhead of 1349 on its southern side is easy to miss if you hurry. Ca’ Zenobio’s gardens are open only when exhibitions allow.

This is a lived-in corner of Dorsoduro, quieter than the centre of the city. Keep voices low on the smaller fondamente and leave doorways clear.

For a stop at the end of the slice, Osteria da Codroma, POI #14, sits on Fondamenta Briati close to Ponte del Socorso.

Continue exploring

This slice is one part of the wider Veronese Walk. Continue with the full route in 17 Walks in Venice, or carry on to the Carmini church and the Scuola Grande dei Carmini, where the walk ends and the Barnabotti Walk waits nearby.

For more on how Venetian squares, churches, wells and neighbourhood life work together – including Campo Santa Margherita, just beyond this slice’s end – see The Fabric of Venice.