In the history of Venice, the "Black Death" attacked this water city twice. 1347 once, Venice lost three-fifths of its population in a year and a half. The second time was in 1630, when the "Black Death" raided Venice and the lagoon, killing 45,000 people (equivalent to one third of the population of Venice at that time). /kloc-after the plague broke out in 0/630, the Venetians turned to the Virgin Mary for help. Venice and the Senate vowed that if the Virgin Mary could save Venice from this disaster, a church would be specially built for her. After the plague passed, the Senate decided to honor the oath of 163 1 year and began to run for the architect of the new church, demanding that the project "should not cost too much and give a good impression". When naming the new church, a "salute" with health and redemption significance was added to thank the Virgin for protecting them from the plague. Baldasarre Longner, only 33 years old, won the election and was appointed to design the church. The construction of the new church took 56 years, and it was not completed until five years after the death of Baldassar Lanner (1687). The base of the Church of Our Lady of Ankang is octagonal, with a Venetian dome on it. There is also a small dome above the priest's seat on the east side, with a pair of bell towers on each side. According to the records at that time, 6.5438+0.7 million wooden stakes were needed to build this church. During the construction process, Baldasarre Longner encountered many problems such as foundation collapse and wall support. In order to solve the stability problem, the architect also specially invented the strange spiral shape of the supporting dome.

Looking from the side door, the gray inside the church is not as amazing as the appearance of the church. But if you look through the normally closed door, as the designer Baldasarre Longner predicted, the visual effect will be very different. The gate of the Church of Our Lady of Ankang is only open on Health Day. Health Festival is165438+1October 2 1 every year, aiming at avoiding and eliminating plague. This day is also the day of the year when people can walk into the church through the main entrance. The believers carried lighted candles and crossed the boat bridge at the mouth of the Grand Canal to the church. The light green dome of the church symbolizes the crown of the Virgin Mary. The huge scroll buttress under the dome not only provides the organic connection between the thick base and the dome, but also strengthens the support. The scroll buttress makes the outline of the building seamless. The front of the church is guided by a flight of steps and looks like a beautifully decorated Arc de Triomphe, with four tall pillars supporting cornices and lintels. As a baroque church building, many decorative statues (scroll stacks, lintels, niches) are also erected in the appearance of the Church of Our Lady of Ankang.

The Church of Our Lady of Ankang is a baroque building with a huge dome. It is located at the intersection of the Grand Canal and Port St. Kyle. It is like a palace at sea, dominating the air outline of the mouth of the Grand Canal. Many famous painters, such as canaletto and Gualdi, have painted magnificent scenery with it as the main body. In the eyes of American writer Henry James, the Church of Our Lady of Ankang is like a "lady standing in front of the salon" ... Her dome, scroll decorations, fan-shaped buttresses and statues together form a gorgeous crown, and her broad steps stacked on the ground are like the drag of a robe. "

The interior of the Church of Our Lady of Ankang is a spacious cylindrical space surrounded by eight columns. The floor is covered with marble with beautiful geometric patterns and surrounded by six worship rooms. The altar is decorated with a group of statues elaborately made by Giusto Lecourt, which show that the Virgin rescued Venice from the plague. The statue of the Virgin Mary is in the center, to the left of the Virgin Mary, representing the noble woman in Venice kneeling in supplication, while the ugly old woman representing the plague on the other side is fleeing under the chase of angels. The famous paintings in the church are mainly concentrated in the sacristy room on the left side of the main altar, including Titian's decorative painting on the back wall of the altar "The Coronation of Saint Kyle" and the zenith painting (representing Old Testament stories, such as Cain and Abel, Abraham and Isaac, David and Goliath). On the right side of the altar is Tintoretto's Wedding in Ghana. Ruskin praised the painting as "a combination of rich color activities like Titian and strong light and shadow effects like Rembrandt, which is more decisive".