Campo della Salute

Today, as I wandered Venice with three new friends, we came across an incredible campo. Sunset was nearing, and we had taken the inevitable wrong turn on our way back from the west side of the city. When we rounded the corner of a street leading to the Canal Grande, a massive Baroque church confronted us. We moved around the building, in awe of the majestic white structure, until we reached the other side to find the apse of a beautiful and rough-hewn Venetian Gothic church. The juncture of the churches formed a space that a faded white sign marked as Campo Della Salute. Struck by the perfection of the area, we took the opportunity to explore the campo and the surrounding buildings, relishing in our discovery. The campo was a beautiful contrast of two strongly different time periods and a window into the passage of time and development of architecture and culture in Venice.

The Baroque church turned out to be Santa Maria della Salute and the gothic church Chiesa di San Gregorio. In the campo, we found the following architectural elements:

·     Aedicule

·      Apse

·      Balustrade

·      Barrel vault

·      Baroque architecture

·      Biforate window

·      Blind arcade

·      Calle

·      Campanile

·      Campo

·      Capital

·      Clerestory

·      Corbel

·      Corinthian orders

·      Cornice

·      Cusp

·      Entablature

·      Exedra

·      Extrados

·      Fondamenta

·      Frieze

·      Gothic architecture

·      Intrados

·      Lancet

·      Lunette

·      Nave

·      Oculus

·      Pediment

·      Pilaster

·      Quatrefoil

·      Rio

·      Riva

·      Segmental pediment

·      Sottoportego

·      Spandrel

·      Thermal window

·      Tondo

·      Traghetto

The most striking aspect of the campo is the juxtaposition of the Baroque and the Gothic architecture set against the open water. When passing through the sottoportego, the distintion becomes radical. Emerging from the dark, damp, brick passageway, all that can be seen is the looming façade of Santa Maria della Saulte. The contrasting bright colors of the baroque and dark colors of the gothic churches enhance the feeling of space expanding upwards. Progressing through the archway, the visibility of the canal creates a feeling of space radiating outwards as well. The sense of growing space fits the changes from gothic to baroque extremely well. In the baroque time period, the idea of progress and of seizing opportunities to grow as a human became popular in the wake of medieval humility. This way of thinking is reflected in the change from simplistic and imperfect gothic to elaborate and carefully crafted baroque ornamentation. Furthermore, the circular shape of the Santa Maria della Saulte, topped with the large central dome, contrasts strongly with the traditional nave and apse of the Chiesa de San Gregorio. This architectural change is indicative of the humanistic thinking, the pride of Venice, and the continual desire to create more elaborate and original structures during the Baroque time period. Beyond being a beautiful and harmonious area, the Campo della Salute is a perfect trinity of the Gothic period, the Baroque period, and the water that represents all time, fusing them together.