Santa Maria della Salute, Venice

Canal & Dome of Santa Maria della Salute, Venice 

Ah Venice....A city of meandering streets, little bridges, large piazzas, and some seriously grand architecture! The thing I love most about Venice is it's juxtaposition of scale: tiny island + massively important and massively scaled buildings. Venice was historically known as a city that joined the east and the west through it's position as a port city, and mark along the silk trading route, so with that in mind, we can see how with that many visitors over the centuries it would need some rather monumental buildings to underscore itself as the famed capital that it was know to be. 

On the right side of the photo is the dome of Santa Maria della Salute-an important addition to the Venetian skyline that was added in 1681 (which can be found in the Dorsoduro district of Venice). Although it is a large basilica by contemporary standards, it was seen as a minor basilica by old world European standards. The basilica was originally built to commemorate Venice's survival of an outbreak of a devastating plague. The church was built in the honour of 'Our lady of health/deliverance'-"salute" in Italian.
Santa Maria della Salute

This photo is one of my favourite travel photos that I've taken without question-partially because of the sunrise (yes, sunrise, not sunset), and because it was taken on a romantic stroll through the city at 4:30 a.m. with my boyfriend. It felt like we were the only people in this amazing city. 


Antique Print, W.L. Leitch, 1841
Antique Rendering