Every year Venezia, 21 November, dresses up: schools close, the toys and sweets market open and people go in procession to the Church of the Madonna della Salute which, for the occasion, remains open for rosaries and masses.
Venetians feel this celebration very much, for which a temporary bridge is built across the Grand Canal and that arrives, in fact, at the above church. But where does this holiday come from, so felt by the Venetians? It all dates back to the seventeenth century, when Venice was hit by a terrible plague epidemic, which will also be discussed Manzoni in the Promessi Sposi. The deaths were many, the people were decimating themselves until it was decided to invoke the religion: almost all the survivors wandered non-stop in Piazza San Marco for three days and three nights, holding a torch in their hand.
A was then made vote, according to which, if Venice had escaped decimation, a temple would have been built to thank the Madonna and should have been of greatness and beauty never seen in the city until then. There religion it seemed to win over the disease and, the week following the procession, the plague began to regress, until it disappeared in the following two weeks.
A competition to design the promised temple, which was won by a very young architect, Baldassare Longhena: the work was therefore carried out, for which it is said that more than three hundred thousand oak poles were used. The work was enormous and took about twenty years to be completed: it was consecrated on November 21st and, since then, this is the date on which the feast of the Madonna of Health.
