Chiesa Di Santa Maria Della Salute

Lonely Planet review

Possibly the city's most familiar silhouette, this bulging baroque beast is one of Longhena's masterpieces. Seen from close up, it's difficult to take it all in, but Longhena knew what he was doing and deliberately designed a monument to be admired from afar. Indeed it is more impressive on the outside than within, with one significant exception, the sacristy.

Longhena got the commission to build the church in honour of the Virgin Mary, who was believed to have delivered the city from an outbreak of plague in 1630. The octagonal form of the church is unusual. Longhena's idea was to design it in the form of a crown for the Mother of God.

The interior is flooded with light pouring through windows in the walls and dome. Dominating the main body of the church is the extraordinary Baroque altar maggiore (high altar), in which is imbedded an icon of Mary brought to Venice from Crete.

The sacristy ceiling is bedecked with three remarkable Titians. The figures depicted are so full of curvaceous movement they almost seem to be caught in a washing machine! The three scenes are replete with high emotion, depicting the struggles between Cain and Abel, David and Goliath, and finally between Abraham and his conscience in The Sacrifice of Isaac .