Cathedral of Santa Maria della Salute

Santa Maria della Salute (Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute) is a 17th-century Venetian cathedral built to thank the Virgin Mary for ridding the city of the plague that killed a third of the citizens. To commemorate the miraculous rescue, the church was given its name, St. Mary of Health.”

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Contents

History of the cathedral

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‘ Venice. Work on the new church continued for 50 years, during the master’s lifetime. In parallel, he erected about two dozen luxurious palazzos and churches in the city, but the temple of Santa Maria della Salute remained the pinnacle of his work. The architect had time to see the completion of construction, but the consecration of the cathedral took place after his death, in 1687. Later, a seminary building was added to the church, where Catholic priests are still educated today.

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Our days: the aftermath of the great fire

‘ Santa Maria della Salute.
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Fun facts

‘ Venice’s foundation. In order to realize the plan and ensure the stability of the structure, the builders had to put at least 100 thousand wooden piles. In total, about 1 million beams are involved in the structure.

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Cathedral interior

Thanks to the wide arched windows under the dome and on each side of the octagon, the interior of the basilica is filled with light. Through a rotunda hall with a mosaic floor with a volume effect, visitors to the temple pass to the altar, which is crowned by the figure of the Madonna and Child. At her feet, a kneeling Venetian woman begs for mercy, and a young angel banishes the Plague from Venice. Under the altar group is the cathedral’s oldest treasure. It is a Byzantine icon of Our Lady of Mesopanditissa, brought from Crete at the end of the XVII century during the next Venetian-Turkish war. According to legend, the author of the work is the Evangelist Luke. There are a total of 25 statues of the finest workmanship in the altar area.

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The Cathedral of Santa Maria della Salute contains outstanding works by world famous painters Titian and Tintoretto, as well as works by other representatives of the Venetian school. The pearl of the collection is Titian’s early work “St. Mark on the Throne with Saints Cosmas, Damian, Sebastian and Rocco” and works from the 1540s that were damaged in a fire but have been restored.

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‘ Main Altar
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Tourist Information

There is free entry to the central rotunda for guests throughout the year, the altar area in the small rotunda and the six side chapels may be closed during church events. The temple is open from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.; there is no afternoon break on Sunday. Organ and vocal concerts are organized on a special schedule.

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Services and feasts

‘ Venice. Line No. 1 runs here, leading from the pier of the P. le Roma, or Santa Chiara, across the Grand Canal to the Lido. The neighboring wharves of this route to the Salute are San Marco to the east of the church and Santa Maria del Giglio to the west.

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Sights in the vicinity of the basilica

On the same piece of land to the east of the church in the triangular former customs house is the Art Museum, Punta della Dogana, which hosts themed exhibitions of works by contemporary sculptors and artists. The Peggy Guggenheim Museum is open 200 meters to the west and features the best of twentieth-century art – works by Picasso, Braque, Dalí, Miró, Kandinsky, Chagall.

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