La Festa del Redentore - The Votive Bridge

For the official procession for the Venetian Festa del Redentore, from the very beginning, there was the not-so-small problem of the wide Giudecca Canal to cross, which the Venetians dealt with by annually constructing and then dismanting a temporary pontoon bridge from the Zattere (the waterfront on the southwest side of the city) to the island of the Giudecca. As you can see here, the Doge (the Venetian head of state) along with the entire government would then cross this bridge in procession to render homage to Christ Redeemer for stopping the plague, every single year until the fall of the Venetian Republic to Napoleon in 1797.

As you can see, this year's bridge is just about ready! In order to disrupt water traffic as little as possible, they build it in three sections, and the middle section will be installed at the very last minute. The "votive bridge" will then open officially for pilgrimages to the Church of the Redentore Saturday morning.

But that's just the beginning of the festival! There's going to be more to come!!

Categories: Venice