The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, usually just called the Frari, is one of the greatest churches of Venice and has the status of a minor basilica. It stands on the Campo dei Frari at the heart of the San Polo district of the city. The church is dedicated to the Assumption (Assunzione della Beata Virgine).
The Franciscans were granted land to build a church in 1250, but the building was not completed until 1338. Work almost immediately began on its much larger replacement, the current church, which took over a century to build. The campanile, the second tallest in the city after that of San Marco, was completed in 1396.
The imposing edifice is built of brick, and is one of the city's three notable churches built in the Italian Gothic style. As with many Venetian churches, the exterior is rather plain. The interior contains the only rood screen still in place in Venice.
The Frari is a parish church of the Vicariate of San Polo-Santa Croce-Dorsoduro. The other churches of the parish are San Barnaba, San Ludovico Vescovo, Santa Maria del Soccorso and Santa Margherita.
Antonio Canova (only his heart is buried here; the tomb, realised by his disciples, is based on the drawing of Canova himself for an unrealised tomb for Titian)
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Image:Frari02.jpg|Another of the Altar and 'The Assumption'.
Image:Frari01.jpg|The West Front.
Image:Venezia santa maria gloriosa1.JPG|The Interior.
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