Built to celebrate the city’s deliverance from the Black Death, Palladio's Il Redentore was completed under Antonio da Ponte (of Rialto Bridge fame) in 1592. The theme is taken up in Paolo Piazza’s monochrome Venice's Offering for Liberation from the Plague of 1575–77 (1619), high above the entry door. Look for Tintoretto's The Flagellation of Christ (1588) on the third altar to the right.

Survival is never taken for granted in this tidal town, and to give thanks during the Festa del Redentore, Venetians have been making a pilgrimage across the canal on a shaky pontoon bridge from the Zattere on the third weekend in July ever since 1578.


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1. Fondazione Vedova

0.25 MILES

A retrofit designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano transformed Venice’s historic salt warehouses into art galleries. Although the facade…

2. Le Zitelle

0.35 MILES

Designed by Palladio in the late 16th century and built after his death, the Zitelle was a church and almshouse for orphans and poor young women (zitelle…

3. Chiesa di Santa Maria del Rosario

0.39 MILES

Venetians have long memories, which is why this church is still called I Gesuati by locals despite the namesake religious order having been replaced by…

4. Ca’ Dario

0.4 MILES

Grand Canal palaces rank among the world’s most desirable real estate, and multi-coloured marble marvel Ca’ Dario casts a mesmerising reflection, which…

5. Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute

0.4 MILES

Baldassare Longhena's magnificent basilica is prominently positioned near the entrance to the Grand Canal, its white stones, exuberant statuary and high…

6. Peggy Guggenheim Collection

0.4 MILES

After losing her father on the Titanic, heiress Peggy Guggenheim became one of the great collectors of the 20th century. Her palatial canalside home,…

7. Palazzo Cini

0.41 MILES

This elegant 16th-century Gothic palazzo was the former home of industrialist and philanthropist Vittorio Cini, who filled it with first-class paintings,…

8. Punta della Dogana

0.44 MILES

Fortuna, the weathervane atop Punta della Dogana, swung Venice’s way in 2005, when bureaucratic hassles in Paris convinced art collector François Pinault…