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The Church of Santa Maria della Salute (completed in 1682) is on the right, built on a narrow peninsula between the Grand Canal and the Canale delle Zattere. In October 1630, after nearly one third of Venice's 150,000 citizens had been killed by plague, the Venetian Senate made an offer to God: "Stop the plague, and we'll build a church to honor the Virgin Mary." Baldassare Longhena, the church's architect, described his design as "strange, worthy, and beautiful...in the shape of a round 'machine' such as had never been seen, or invented either in its whole or in part from any other church in the city." A series of steps lead dramatically from the water to the entrance. The main part of the church is an octagon surmounted by a large dome. This central plan is complicated by an altar area added at the end of a longitudinal axis also surmounted by a smaller dome.
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Western Europe
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