Venice has a new open sesame. I discovered it as I climbed the steps of the Redentore, Palladio’s glorious church, at 2.30pm, expecting the church still to be closed. But the doors opened and inside a girl sat in a glass booth offering tickets at 3 Euros or, rather better value, a group ticket to 16 churches for 9 Euros, valid for a year. The smart, playing-card-size ticket carries a detail of Tintoretto’s dramatic Last Supper in Santo Stefano, and charmingly announces: “This is a contribution to the maintenance of the churches of Venice.”

We promptly changed our plans and with our ticket set off on a church crawl which took us to the exquisite, casket-like Renaissance church of the Madonna dei Miracoli, Santa Maria Formosa with its deep barrel-vaulted side chapels, and Santa Maria del Giglio, glorifying the Barbaro family who stand in the niches like saints with canvases by Palma Il Giovane, Andrea Schiavone and Rubens.

Whatever you may think of charging for entry to churches the Chorus ticket, as it is called, provides impressive benefits. First, you know the churches are open 10am-5pm Monday to Saturday with last admissions at 4.45. This ensures that churches are open at the time many visitors want to see them, and is a striking contrast to the prolonged closure between midday and 4pm that often prevails in Mediterranean countries. Only once was I confronted with a sign saying “cinque minuti”, but the attendant returned at that moment.

Secondly, as you show your ticket you are handed an A4 guide with a brief history of the church and a list of the main altarpieces, sculpture and highlights such as organs and pulpits. The best part is the sense of possession it provides. No more worries as to what to leave in the collection box or the feeling that you are somehow intruding. The guardians sit in glass booths, which ensure they stay warm in winter.

The enduring thrill of Venetian churches is that you can see so many surpassingly beautiful altarpieces still in situ: Titian and Bellini in the Frari; Pellegrini, Piazetta and Ricci in San Stae; and the exquisite sculpture of Pietro Lombardo in San Giobbe. The Chorus pass began with 13 churches and has now reached 16 with San Giobbe in Canareggio packed with 15th-century works by Pietro and Tullio Lombardo, Bonifacio de’ Pitati and Luca della Robbia.

I am one of the founders of the Friends of the City Churches, in London, which arranges for volunteers to sit in churches on certain days making it safer for them to remain open. The Venice venture is significant too in relation to the £3 charge instituted at St Bartholomew the Great in London after English Heritage rejected an application for a £200,000 repair grant. This has drawn some strong criticism locally, though the verger said: “People from farther afield understand when they hear it is a contribution to the fabric.”

One of the main benefits of the Venice Chorus pass is that it encourages people to go from one church to another, seeking to make the most of their ticket. Equally, by pitching the price of the pass low, more people are prompted to buy it, even if they only visit a couple of churches during their visit. Naturally you also find yourself walking past other magnificent churches not in the scheme and often these prove to be open too. Particularly impressive was the notice in the great Baroque church of the Salute on the Grand Canal, which announced: “Absolutely no one is authorised to ask for money”. There is a ¤ Euro<NO> charge for the sacristy but this is packed with masterpieces by Titian, Tintoretto and Salviati.

The Chorus pass comes with a folding map marking the location of the churches and providing directions from one church to another in each of Venice’s six districts or sestieri. This way you can explore painlessly many quiet corners, constantly crossing bridges over quiet canals and passing hundreds of the tempting small shops that are one of the great delights of the city. The Chorus pass takes you past Venice’s magnificent naval dockyard, the Arsenale, to San Pietro di Castello, built to a design by Palladio, and to San Sebastiano, which Paolo Veronese glorified with more of his work than can be seen in the Prado.

With family tickets available for ¤6 passes for students up to 29, the price of entry is extremely good value compared with many museums and exhibitions.

The non-profit Chorus, the Associazone Chiesi di Venezia, was set up in 1997 on the principle of “conserve by use”. It describes its mission as the promotion of an “area museum”. In Britain so many churches have been pushed into redundancy and then into a painful process of adaptation to different uses, involving the loss of beautiful fittings and fine craftsmanship.

Chorus helps to keep churches alive with nothing more intrusive than a glass ticket booth. It is intended to operate on three fronts: first, helping to open and maintain the churches; secondly, stimulating concerts, exhibitions and historical research; and thirdly, working through its group of Friends to raise further support.

www.chorusvenezia.org/english/home_eng.htm

— Marcus Binney is president of the Friends of the City Churches