Santa Maria dei Miracoli Church, Venice, Italy

Santa Maria dei Miracoli, also known as the 'marble church', it is one of the best examples of the early Venetian Renaissance including colored marble, a false colonnade on the exterior walls (pilasters), and a semicircular pediment.

Built between 1481 and 1489 by Pietro Lombardo to house a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary. The plans for the church were expanded in 1484 to include the construction of a new convent for nuns of St. Clare to the east. The convent was connected to the gallery of the church by an enclosed walkway that was later destroyed.

The interior is enclosed by a wide barrel vault, with a single nave. The nave is dominated by an ornamental marble stair rising between two pulpits, with statues by Tullio Lombardo, Alessandro Vittoria and Nicolò di Pietro. The vaulted ceiling is divided into fifty coffers decorated with paintings of prophets, a work by Girolamo Pennacchi's contemporaries, Vincenzo dalle Destre and Lattanzio da Rimini.

References:

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User Reviews

Andrew U (3 years ago)
From a purely tourist point of view. Nothing wrong with this church and worth it if your passing or have a pass. There are more remarkable churches, this is maybe more impressive outside than in.

Shane Dunne (3 years ago)
In my opinion one of the most beautiful churches in the entire city - loved the gorgeous rounded roof Costs to enter

Nuno Mira (3 years ago)
Another very nice church in the centre of Venice. The way there there are a lot of nice channels and a lot of places to do some shopping.

Richard Rosenbaum (3 years ago)
The only all marble church in Venice, the exterior is beautiful, but the interior is relatively featureless. The interior ceiling has a large number of very small, hard to see paintings of saints that are really only interesting to art majors. There are better churches in Venice.

Peter G Watts (3 years ago)
Went and had a long quiet sit in this beautiful church. Lined inside and out with huge marble cladded sheeting. Makes you wonder how they crafted such beauty.

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