Festa della Salute

Even this year, the appointment with one of the most important feasts of the Serenissima inhabitants - the feast of Madonna della Salute - will be inevitable. The preparations will begin tomorrow with the inauguration of the traditional votive bridge on the Grand Canal on Friday 17 November. At the ceremony, which will take place from 12 o'clock on Friday, the civilian and military authorities of the city will participate, including Mayor Brugnaro and patriarch Francesco Moraglia.

The bridge is a 80-meter long, temporary facility, with 8 unmistakable boats. The central passage to allow navigation is 10 meters wide.

Following the inauguration, the bridge will remain open until 22 pm on Tuesday, November 21, the Feast of Madonna della Salute. The event celebrates the end of the plague of 1630-31 which caused the death of 47,000 Venetians. The plague was so destructive that, for despair, the doge and patriarch (Nicolò Contarini and Giovanni Tiepolo respectively) organized a procession that lasted three days and three nights and made a solemn vote to the Madonna who would have built a temple in his honor if the city have survived the epidemic. The contagion decreased rapidly until it stopped completely and the vote was honored with the construction of the majestic basilica by Baldassarre Longhena between 1631 and 1687.

On the occasion of the Feast, the Basilica of Madonna della Salute will remain open all day and there will be celebrations every hour from 6 to 22: the solemn mass at 10 o’clock will be chaired also this year by the Patriarch of Venice.

When: inauguration of the votive bridge on Friday 17 November 2017 / Feast of Madonna della Salute Tuesday, November 21st  2017

Where: Madonna della Salute Church