Yes, there are a few churches in Venice....

 

Santa Maria dei Miracoli in the Cannaregio sestiere

Wednesday                                                                October 6, 2021

Venice has amazingly beautiful churches, and I visit them whenever I travel there.  Unfortunately, more so than almost any other European city, there aren't many real congregations that worship in these religious temples.  There is more of a feeling of a museum, in many ways, although one knows that most of these beautiful buildings have been holy and revered places.

We visited three today:  Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Santa Maria Formosa and Il Gesuiti, which I mentioned before as one of my favorite Venezian churches.

Santa Maria dei Miracoli has a beautiful campo, with restaurants and shops

Miracoli is bordered on one side by a rio, and this gondoliere was just covering the velvet seats in his gondola in preparation for the coming rain.

The Save Venice foundation (US based) organized a massive restoration of Santa Maria dei Miracoli over seven years (1990-97).  It's an interesting story to read about.  The  beautifully decorated marble church is a favorite for weddings in Venezia.  However, the marble cladding was badly deteriorating, with more than 14% of salts in its panels, "to the point of bursting" according to Wikipedia.  Each panel was removed and cleaned and desalinated with distilled water.  The original cost estimate for the restoration was $1 million - it ended up costing $4 million dollars to complete.

The fifty two wooden panels on this decorative ceiling were also cleaned and restored

The interior is like a jewel box, with soft colors of pink, green and grey.

Michael was most impressed with the marble panels and spent some extra time studying them.

As we continued our morning meander to find the Murano glass showroom recommended by our friends, we encountered the predicted morning deluge.  We happened to have just reached the Campo for Santa Maria Famosa, so we quickly ducked inside to avoid the worst of the downpour.

The rain came down in sheets, and everyone ducked for cover where ever they could find it.

Same church and campo in the afternoon, as we backtracked to our B & B.  What a difference the sunshine makes!

Il Gesuiti, the church of the Jesuits, is formally known as Santa Maria Assunta and located right next to the Fondamente Nuova - the boat dock that we use to travel to Torcello via water bus.  This gave me the perfect excuse for a quick visit.  However, it was quicker than I'd hoped, because it was closed.  So I took a good look at the exterior and said goodbye until next time.

Entrance and marble facade of the Jesuits' church - Santa Maria Assunta

Wow, look at that blue sky -- all about to change in a few hours.