It was built where the first exiles from Adria, Aquileia and the mainland established a permanent community in the Riva Alto (Rialto) or high ground. The gothic portico or porch is the only one left in the city and if you look closely an inscription encourages the merchants of Rialto to be honest and loyal.

By the 'The First Church in Venice' we are also referring to the first church the majority of tourists pass by when they arrive in the city from the train station. It is also on the least noted as everyone heads as quickly as they can to the Saint Mark's Square.

A Roman Baroque church, it is called the Chiesa di Santa Maria di Nazareth o dei Carmelitani Scalzi. The religious order was originally from Rome and ‘scalzi’ in Italian means bare foot.

The church was built only a few years before the Great Fire of London by Baldassarre Longhena, the same man responsible for the iconic Santa Maria delle Salute Church It is the only religious building in the city with an exterior of marble from Carrara in Tuscany.

He may have been shocked as anyone to see London go up in flames, but he could never have imagined the damage done to the Church when an Austrian bomb fell through the roof in 1915.

A vault frescoed by Tiepolo was destroyed with just a few fragments in the Accademia reminding us of what has been lost.