The Church of the Madonna dell'Orto stands in the Cannaregio district. Built in the 14th century and rebuilt or heavily remodelled in the 15th century, the church was dedicated to St Christopher, but soon assumed its current popular name in honour of a miraculous image of the Virgin and Child found in a nearby vegetable garden.
The magnificent terracotta façade is one of the most interesting in Venice, testifying to the transition from Romanesque to Gothic and from Gothic to Renaissance styles.
Among the many works preserved in the church are the beautiful Contarini Chapel, with Tintoretto's St Agnes, the 15th century altarpiece with St John the Baptist and Saints by Giambattista Cima da Conegliano, and the refined Valier Chapel, of Renaissance forms.
