Santa Maria della Salute

The vow

Venice vowed a church to Our Lady of Health during the plague of 1630

As a votive offering for deliverance from the plague, the Republic of Venice vowed to build a church to Our Lady of Health. The Senate decreed it on October 22, 1630. Baldassare Longhena designed it in the Baroque style, and construction began in 1631.

The contest

A 26-year-old won the competition, by 66 votes to 29

Eleven designs were submitted and two reached the final round. The Senate voted 66 in favor, 29 against, with two abstentions, to authorize the design of the 26-year-old Longhena. The church was completed in 1681.

The piles

The church stands on a platform of a million wooden piles

The Salute is a vast octagonal building with two domes and a pair of bell-towers at the back. It stands on a platform of 1,000,000 wooden piles and is built of Istrian stone and marmorino, which is brick covered with marble dust.

1,000,000wooden piles under the church

The feast

Every 21 November the city's officials walk to the church

The Senate was to visit the church each year. On 21 November, the Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin, city officials parade from San Marco to the Salute for a service of thanks. Crossing the Grand Canal on a specially built pontoon bridge is still a major event.

The plague

The plague killed nearly a third of Venice in 1630 and 1631

From the summer of 1630 until 1631 the plague killed nearly a third of the population. In the city 46,000 people died, and in the lagoons some 94,000. Most of the objects of art in the church bear references to the Black Death.