The Zattere is a promenade that runs on the south side of the Dorsoduro. From here you can look beyond the Giudecca Canal to the island of Giudecca and you’ll notice a distinct church that dominates the skyline of the Giudecca, Il Redentore.
To sum up this church I’ll quote a passage from writer Harold Brodkey.
“It grew darker, and across the flickering water the lights bloomed on the facade of Palladio’s Redentore. That Palladian facade has as an aesthetic quality an un-Venetian and as-if-final, brooding stillness. It was built to honor the end of a plague. It testifies also to the capitalism of the survivors; the facade is something of a tombstone for accident and evil, for ruin and death that will no longer occur…”
This church is a pilgrimage site. Finished in 1592 to honor Christ the Redeemer for the end of the plague that killed some 46,000 people in Venice from 1575-1576 (that was 30 percent of the Venetian populace at the time). The Senate of the Republic of Venice commissioned architect Andrea Palladio to build the church, and he did, making it one of his most impressive structures. The facade draws its inspiration from the Parthenon in Athens.
The interior is just as impressive with paintings from Tintoretto, Veronese and Bassano.
When Fabrizzia and I were in Venice last July, we just so happened to be there during the Festa del Redentore when Venice celebrates the end of the plague by constructing a pontoon bridge that connects the Giudecca with Dorsoduro. They also have a fireworks display that makes Guy Fawkes Day or the Fourth of July look like a sparkler in front of your house. If you’re ever back in the city, come back in July, you won’t be disappointed.
My suggestion is that you take the shuttle from the San Zaccaria Vaporetto (the boat on the map) stop at 6:20Pm on Friday, May 28 for the Welcome Drinks. This will give you time to walk to Il Redentore, check it out and be back at the Molino Stucky for drinks.
Tags: Dorsoduro, Giudecca, Harold Brodkey, Il Redentore, Palladio, Venice
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