Ruzzini Palace and the Festa della Salute: Venice's 21st of November, from the house of the doges to the bridge across the Grand Canal

A feast born of a vow, a bridge that appears once a year, a city that comes together. Told from Campo Santa Maria Formosa.

In November, Venice changes its voice. The calli empty out, the light sinks low over the lagoon and the morning mist settles over the campi. From Ruzzini Palace, in Campo Santa Maria Formosa, you can feel the city preparing for its most intimate day: the Feast of the Madonna della Salute.


Our palazzo bears the name of a family that gave Venice a doge, Carlo Ruzzini, and within its walls three doges of the Serenissima once lived. It is a place that knows well the language of vows, processions and the rituals through which the Republic spoke to its people. That is why we love to tell the story of the Salute from here, from a house that witnessed first-hand the history this feast was born from.


If you are thinking of a trip to Venice far from the summer crowds, the 21st of November is the perfect moment. We invite you to experience the feast as Venetians do, and to return in the evening to the warmth of the palazzo.


A vow against the plague

In 1630 the plague reached the lagoon and within a few months it had devastated the city. The Senate and the doge then made a solemn vow: should the epidemic end, Venice would raise a church to the Virgin. The plague subsided and the promise was kept. Baldassarre Longhena, then barely thirty, designed the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, whose great white dome at the mouth of the Grand Canal is still one of the most recognisable silhouettes of Venice.


Ever since, every 21st of November, the city crosses the water to give thanks.

Doge Ruzzini and the Salute


Carlo Ruzzini was born in Venice on 11 November 1653, just over twenty years after that vow. His health was fragile, and his father chose to have him educated in the city: after private tutors, the young Carlo was entrusted to the Somascan Fathers of the Salute. He grew up in the shadow of the new basilica, before becoming one of the Republic's most seasoned diplomats, from Constantinople to the treaties of Karlowitz and Passarowitz.


In 1732 he was elected doge almost unanimously, the 113th in the history of Venice. For three Novembers, the boy who had grown up at the Salute returned to the basilica as head of the Serenissima.


From Ruzzini Palace to the Salute: the route


From Ruzzini Palace to the Salute: 

Campo Santa Maria Formosa · Ruzzini Palace

Piazza San Marco

Calle Larga XXII Marzo

Campo Santa Maria del Giglio

The votive bridge across the Grand Canal

Basilica della Salute


After your visit, continue to Punta della Dogana for sunset over St Mark's Basin.

Experience the feast like a Venetian


  • A candle for loved ones. On entering the basilica, Venetians light a candle for the health of those dear to them. A simple, heartfelt gesture.
  • The stalls. Along the way you'll find sweets, fritters, candy floss and balloons: the atmosphere of a neighbourhood fair.
  • Castradina. The dish of the Salute: smoked mutton slow-cooked with cabbage. It is eaten only in these days, in the city's osterie.


"Every 21st of November, Venice crosses the water to keep a promise nearly four centuries old".

Venice in November is a city to be savoured slowly: walks in the mist, the osterie, the bridge across the Grand Canal. And in the evening, a historic palazzo awaits you, ten minutes from St Mark's.

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