Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute

A white baroque dome at the canal mouth

Hours: Nave open daily in morning and afternoon sessions (roughly 9:00-12:00, 15:00-17:30). Changes for services and events
Tickets: Nave free; sacristy charged separately
Address: On the point at Dorsoduro's eastern tip, where the Grand Canal meets the lagoon

Venice vowed this church to the Virgin after the plague of 1630. Its pale stone dome and giant scroll buttresses rise straight from the water, and from the San Marco side it is the full stop at the end of every Grand Canal photo. Inside, the octagonal floor is plainer than you expect, and the sacristy holds paintings by Titian and Tintoretto. Every 21 November a temporary pontoon bridge goes up and the city files across to light candles.