Santa Maria della Salute (Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute)is one of the most important and beautiful churches in Venice. It is located in the southern part of the city, in the historical quarter of Dorsoduro (Dorsoduro), on the shore "Grand Canal", opposite Doge's Palace. The church was built in XVII century. At that time, the Black Death (plague) was raging in Italy, killing a third of the population of Venice. According to legend, the city council announced that it would build a church in honor of the Virgin Mary if it stopped the spread of the disease. The population fervently prayed to the Mother of God, and the epidemic stopped. The council kept its word and announced a competition among architects, which was won by young Balthasar Longhena.
Construction of the church began in 1630 and was completed in 1681. The architect did not live to see this moment. The basilica was consecrated in honor of St. Mary, who saved the Venetians from the Black Death. (“Salute” means healing.) The building stands on hundreds of thousands of powerful wooden beams built into the bottom of the Grand Canal. This was an expensive, labor-intensive and lengthy process, as the land subsided, but for construction it was necessary to obtain a monolithic site. A brick octagonal basilica was built on a foundation covered on the outside with marble pellets. The central dome with fifteen ribs, having a hemispherical shape, stands on an 8-sided drum with large windows and external arches. At the top of the altar there is another small dome of the same shape. The exterior and interior of the church are made in Baroque style. The facade is richly decorated with columns, bas-reliefs, sculptural compositions and pilasters. The unusual shape of the central entrance was associated with a triumphal arch erected in honor of the victory over the epidemic. Above the pediment is a statue of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus, John the Baptist and the Archangel Michael. On the cornices there are figures of kings and prophets of the Old Testament.
The interior of the basilica is rich and elegant. The spacious octagonal central part is decorated with arched roofs and columns that rise and flow into pilasters. In the side niches there are 6 chapels, decorated with sculptural compositions and wonderful paintings (5 chapels are dedicated to the Virgin Mary, one is dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua). The marble floor creates an original geometric pattern. A sixty-meter dome rises above the heads of believers.
This is what the sanctuary looks like:
In the center is the famous Byzantine icon depicting the Virgin Mary and Jesus, brought from the island of Crete in 1672, namely from the Church of St. Titus. According to legend, its author is the Apostle Luke.
Above her is again a statue of the Virgin Mary with the newborn Jesus in her arms, on the left a Venetian woman kneels and begs the Virgin Mary to help her, on the right an angel drives out the plague from Venice. This composition was created by Justo Lecourt in 1674.
The church is decorated with paintings by the greatest Italian artists: “The Marriage at Cannes” by Tintoretto, “The Ascension” by Luca Giordano, “David and Goliath”, “The Sacrifice of Abraham”, “The Sacrifice of Abraham”, “The Descent of the Holy Spirit on Apostles", "Cain and Abel" by Titian and others.
In 2010, a fire occurred in the building of the former theological school next to the basilica. After the rescue work, water damaged three paintings by Titian, David and Goliath suffered the most, although restorers managed to restore them all.
Every year on November 21, a solemn service is held in the cathedral in honor of the fact that the Virgin Mary saved Venice from the Black Death. On this day, believers ask the Mother of God to heal the sick.
Church address: Campo della Salute, Dorsoduro. To get there, take vaporetto №1, stop Salute. Entrance to the temple is free.
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