The Feast of the Redeemer dates back to 1575, when a terrible plague hit the city of Venice. To invoke the end of the contagion, the Senate voted to build a church dedicated to Christ the Redeemer, entrusting the project to the architect Andrea Palladio. The foundation stone was laid on May 3, 1577. When the epidemic ceased – the same year – so began a celebration of gratitude that, on the third weekend of July, brought together Venetians and non-Venetians in a collective gesture of remembrance and gratitude.

At the center of the celebration is the votive bridge, a temporary footbridge that joins the Zattere to Giudecca and allows people to walk to the Church of the Redeemer. While originally composed of side-by-side boats, today the bridge is made by employing floating platforms, while retaining the same meaning: a symbolic passage to the place where the miracle took place. Instead, on Sunday afternoon the Votive Mass is celebrated, anticipated by the Regatta of the Redeemer in the Giudecca Canal, bringing traditional boats back to the lagoon.

Alongside the religious dimension, the festival has taken on a broader character over time, becoming a public and secular celebration as well. On Saturday evening, in fact, hundreds of boats occupy San Marco Basin and the shores fill with residents and visitors. The centerpiece of the evening is the fireworks display, which over the years has become an increasingly curated artistic event. This year’s edition – which will be held from Friday, July 18 to Sunday, July 20 – pays tribute to the figure of Giacomo Casanova, with a visual work that interprets the theme of love through a sequence of lights, colors and moving shapes. The show will be titled Casanova and Love.

The Feast of the Redeemer – or the Notte “Famosissima” as the Venetians would call it – is not a celebration created to attract tourists from all over the world. On the contrary, it’s an event that is alive and rooted in the urban fabric, involving the city and its history despite the evolution of languages. In Venice, in fact, the past is not a decorative reminder, but a constant presence with which people engage in dialogue.

Opening Photo: Venice. Credit: Settimo Cannatella