Santa Maria della Salute

The Church of the Virgin Mary of Good Health in Venice, Italy

* Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute
Campo della Salute 1, Dorsoduro
Vaporetto: Salute
tel. +39-041-241-1018 or +39-041-274-3928
www.seminariovenezia.it
Open daily 9am–noon and 3–5:30pm

Sights nearby
** Peggy Guggenheim (museum)
*** Accademia (museum)

Where to eat nearby
Trattoria Ai Cugnai (meal)

Hotels nearby
Reid Recommends **Hotel Galleria [moderate]
Reid Recommends **Hotel Pensione Accademia [premier]
Hotel Palazzo Guardi [cheap]
Hotel Ca' Centopietre [cheap]

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Santa Maria della Salute
Santa Maria della Salute Usually referred to simply as "La Salute," this majestic and compact 17th-century baroque jewel proudly reigns at this commercially and aesthetically important point: next to the the old dogana (customs house) at the tip of Dorsoduro and almost directly across from Piazza San Marco, where the Grand Canal empties into the wide Bacino San Marco basin.

In 1631, Venice had just survived yet another plague thanks to the divine intervention of the Virgin Mary of Good Health (La Salute). The Republic voted to honor her by building this church in her honor (much as they had with Il Redentore), and this time commissioned the revolutionary designs of a fairly unknown young architect, Baldassare Longhena.

Longhena would go on to design, among many other projects in Venice, the Ca' Rezzonico, but La Salute would continue to occupy his attentions for the next 50 years. He died a year after the church's official inauguration—but, sadly, five years before its final completion.

The octagonal Salute is a baroque masterpiece. Its exterior is an architectural festival of exuberant volutes, scrolls, and more than 125 statues. All that busyness falls away when you enter the cool, restrained, and perfectly proportioned interior—which, unlike just about every other church in Venice, is suffused with light. It's a popular place for free concerts (frequently making use of the fine 1782 organ), and the wall altars are highlighted by Luca Giordano altarpieces.

Don't miss the small gallery of important paintings in the Sacristy (through a small door to the left of the main altar; modest admission fee). Titian painted several of the ceiling panels and portraits of the Evangelists and church doctors, and decorating the right wall is Tintoretto's magnificent Marriage at Cana.

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This material was last updated February 2011. All information was accurate at the time.

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