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The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, usually just called the Frari, is a church located in the Campo dei Frari at the heart of the San Polo district of Venice, Italy. The largest church in the city, it has the status of a minor basilica. The church is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.

The imposing edifice is built of brick, and is one of the city's three notable churches still mostly retaining their Venetian Gothic appearance. In common with many Franciscan churches, the exterior is rather plain, even on the front facade. The exterior also features a bell tower that was fixed in the early 2000s after going through structural problems. The interior is notable for many very grand wall monuments to distinguished Venetians buried in the church, including a number of Doges and the painter Titian. Many of these are important works in the history of Venetian sculpture, and the many paintings include two large and important altarpieces by Titian, the Assumption of the Virgin on the high altar and the Pesaro Madonna. It also contains the only rood screen still in place in Venice.

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History

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. This edifice proved too small and a three nave church was begun in 1250, and not completed until 1338. Work almost immediately began on its much larger replacement, the current church, which took over a century to build. The new church inverted the original orientation, thus placing the facade facing the plaza and small canal. The work was started under Jacopo Celega, but completed by his son Pier Paolo. The campanile, the second tallest in the city after that of San Marco, was completed in 1396. Under the patronage of Giovanni Corner, the Chapel of San Marco was added in 1420. In 1432-1434 the bishop Vicenza Pietro Miani built the chapel of San Pietro next to the bell-tower. The facade was not completed until 1440, with the cornice is surmounted by three statues (1516) by Lorenzo Bregno The main altar was consecrated in 1469. In 1478, the Pesaro family commissioned a chapel in the apse. On 27 May 1492, the church was consecrated with the name of Santa Maria Gloriosa.

The Frari is a parish church of the Vicariate of San Polo-Santa Croce-Dorsoduro. Other churches of the parish are San Barnaba, San Ludovico Vescovo, Santa Maria del Soccorso and Santa Margherita. In the 16th century, however, devotional life changed in a big way; being private, less moral, and contained people from various countries. The congregations got big only when a famous preacher was preaching, or a major feast was taking place. All connections had a relationship with the brotherhood involved in the chruch, as most of the other chapel areas were designed for private groups. This church is notable to hosting funerals and other gatherings for the deceased. Also, in later times, there was some crime and mischief going on with the church. As a result, the Franciscans had been expelled from the church during the 19th century, the church was restored to the order in 1922. The bell tower went through a structural intervention from 1904 to the 1990s that helped fix the cracks in the bell tower.

Titian, the most prominent 16th-century Venetian painter, is interred in the Frari.

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Choir Screen

In 1475, a choir screen was built at the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari so that during the service, the monks were separated from everyone else. The change in styles was the only way the choir screen was making progress towards completion. That screen remained the only choir screen in Venice as of today. The front of the screen has a lot of Gothic influence, especially in the late Gothic era. Some of the styles on the screen today were in historical Venetian fasion. Some styles even have a Classical influence, such as the leaves that were formed on the pilasters. The screen had an inscription on the front that was created in addition to the main curtain screen that came from the Romans. The design of the screen had works that influenced from other churches, such as San Zaccaria, Ss. Giovanni E Paolo, and San Michele in Isola.

Architectural Features

The church overall is Venetian Style, as the walls were made of red brick, the beams were decorated on the inside and details were made of Istrian stone. It also has Roman influence, because the columns in the nave contain large cylindrical shafts. The church also contains six smaller chapels as well as the main chapel, three on each side of the main chapel. The baptistery and sacristy were featured along with two other chapels, making the church a family chapel.

The church overall has a vaulted Gothic rib ceiling, making the interior's volume large. The church does not have a dome in the middle, making it unique. The materials used were mostly hard and resonant, from marble and Istrian stone tile floors, to masonry walls and vaults with brick covered with intonaco.

Bell Tower Structural Intervention

Cracks started to form on the bell tower in 1904 after St. Mark's bell tower collapse, leading to a structural intervention. The investigation of the Frari bell tower started in 1990, with structural problems taking place in 2000. The tower was investigated deeply in 2001-2003, and used a monitoring system to identify crack patterns. The stress was also measured using Flat jack testing. Overall, the tower was inspected geotecnically very well, including using standard penetration tests, and digging through the bell tower foundation. A structural analysis of the bell tower was then performed, and the forces and loads were calculated to fix the tower. After the investigation, several instruments, including a crack-gauge and a strain gauge were used to keep track of the work on the bell tower in real time.

Strengthening interventions were conducted to keep the tower safe, and it was used with a structural/geotechnical monitoring system. The first phase involved using a steel cable connecting one of the columns to the bell tower for the Frari. The second phase involves injecting mortal into the soil, and the soil is strengthened due to increased stress. The most information came from the direct bell tower and precision leveling. The mortar was grouted to determine the velocity of the different intervention phases. At the end, the settlement velocity decreased. The third and final phase involves a structural joint between the tower and the church. Even though it took six months to execute, it worked pretty well as it prevented damage to the bell tower and parts of the church. Even though it resulted in tower deformations, It was one of the big moves in the bell tower. Overall, soil-fracture intervention and structural joint execution both use the direct pendulum. The structural joint helps avoid future cracks when seismic loads occur.

Interior Plan

The plan of the church looked like a typical Gothic cathedral, as it was shaped like a Latin cross, and featured aisles on the sides. The list below indicated what is located on the image of the plan, shown below.

Plan of the basilica.

1. - Counter-facade
2. - Chapel of the Crucifix
3. - Canova Monument
4. - Doge Pesaro Monument
5. - Chapel with Pesaro Madonna by Titian
6. - Chapel of San Pietro
7. - Chapel of San Marco
8. - Chapel of the Milanesi
9. - Chapel of San Michele
10. - Chapel of the Franciscan Saints
11. - Choir and Organ
12. - Presbitery
13. - Doge Tron Monument
14. - 12th-century Crucifix
15. - Assumption of Virgin, main altarpiece by Titian (and main organ)
16. - Monumento al Doge Foscari
17. - Chapel of San Giovanni Battista
18. - Chapel of Father Kolbe
19. - Chapel of Bernardo
20. - Dead Christ
21. - Altar of the Sacristy with Giovanni Bellini's Frari Triptych
22. - Sacristy
23. - Altar of the Relics
24. - Entry to Sala del Capitolo and Convent
25. - Wall of right transept
26. - Jacopo Marcello Monument
27. - Altar of Santa Caterina
28. - Altar of San Giuseppe da Copertino
29. - Altar with Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
30. - Titian Monument
31. - Altar of Sant'Antonio da Padova

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