Santa Maria dei Miracoli
Church
Santa Maria dei Miracoli is a jewel box of a church | © JOHN KELLERMAN / Alamy Stock Photo
Built between 1481 and 1489, this is a jewel box of a church decked out in polychrome marble both inside and out. It’s all gloriously lavish, inspired by some High Renaissance ideas but combined with the Venetian love of patterns and colours. It is one of the few churches in Venice that was designed, built and decorated by just one artist (Pietro Lombardo) and his workshop – most of the other churches in the city feature a variety of overlapping styles – so its design is particularly harmonious. The Santa Maria houses a supposedly miraculous icon of the Madonna and child, a small but beautiful altarpiece.