Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute

St. Mary of the Health's Basilica in Venice was erected in place of the Punta della Dogana, where stands out in the panorama of the St. Mark's Basin and the Grand Canal. Designed by Baldassare Longhena with attention to models of Palladio, it is one of the best examples of Baroque architecture in Venice. Its construction is a votive offering to the Virgin Mary by the Venetians for deliverance from the plague in 1630. To make room for the new Church was chosen to demolish a suppressed religious complex. Longhena designed a Church "in the form of crown to be dedicated to the Virgin." The main building is octagonal on which rests a large hemispherical dome, surrounded by six smaller chapels. The Church extends southward with side apses covered by a dome and flanked by two lower towers. These factors appear impressive to those who follow the Rio Terà of Catechumens, which until the early twentieth century was the only access by land to the Church. The main facade was decorated by the sculptor Thomas Rues with marble statues of the four evangelists. The spacious interior is illuminated from the windows emphasizing the polychrome marble flooring. The Madonna with Child represents the Health that defends Venice from the plague, work by a Flemish sculptor in 1627. The altar holds a Byzantine icon of the Madonna of the Health from the island of Crete. In the side chapels are the "Descent of the Holy Spirit", by Titian (1555) and the altar with the altarpiece of the Assumption by Luca Giordano. The dome is decorated with wooden statues depicting the prophets, the sculptor Rues.