Parking in Scuola Grande di San Marco

Everything in Venice is a work of art! Fact of the day: the building that today serves as the main entrance to the Ospedale Civile SS. Giovanni e Paolo (main hospital in Venice) is actually the very old Scuola Grande di San Marco!

It is located in the Castello district, in the historic centre of the lagoon, in an area that we’re sure you already know is only accessible on foot or by boat (just like the whole centre of Venice)! 

For this reason, if you want to visit the Scuola Grande di San Marco, you actually only have a couple of options to park your car. The first is to book a car park in Mestre near the Venezia Mestre Station, with Parclick of course. So you don't even have to drive on the lagoon, you can park on land and then take one of the many buses or trains that in about ten minutes arrive at the Santa Lucia Venice train station in the historic centre. It is also a cheap option ;)

If you prefer to go to the city centre by car and avoid public transport, then you can cross the long Ponte della Libertà bridge to get to Piazzale Roma, the only area in the centre of Venice where you can park! Here you are guaranteed a low price so it is a little more complicated, but as soon as you leave your car you can start to visit the city on foot or take one of the many public vaporetto services, which depart right from the square! For example, line 2 of the vaporetto will take you straight to Scuola Grande di San Marco, sailing along the Grand Canal.

With that being said, it all seems very simple, but remember that Venice is a city that’s visited every year by thousands of tourists! That's why it's always better to book online and have a guaranteed parking space on your arrival. Surely you don’t want to spend your first few hours stuck in your car desperately searching for a parking space, right? ;)

Scuola Grande di San Marco

The most impressive of all the Venetian schools

The history of the Scuola Grande di San Marco began in 1260, when it was founded as the Scuola dei Battuti on Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo. In 1485 it was rebuilt after a fire, so now its appearance is decidedly Renaissance!

When the brotherhood that founded the Scuola (school) split up, most of the works of art that were inside were scattered...Jacopo Tintoretto furnished the school with three paintings: Miracle of the Slave, St Mark's Body Brought to Venice and Finding of the body of St Mark. These paintings have since been moved elsewhere.

The internal rooms are worth a visit, especially the Sala Capitolare and the Sala dell'Albergo, whose golden ceiling was carved by Pietro and Biagio di Faenza in 1495. In these two rooms there is also the medical library, from the 14th century, which housed more than 8000 books!

Today the school is the main access of the Ospedale Civile SS. Giovanni e Paolo hospital, but if during your visit to Venice you pass by the surroundings...you should stop and take a photo of its particular facade! 

Stroll through the streets of Venice, take a vaporetto or take a romantic gondola ride…your car will not miss you because it will be safe in a guarded car park guaranteed by Parclick ;)