Plague Sweeps Venice

1580

An outbreak of bubonic plague killed perhaps fifty thousand Venetians, nearly a third of the city, within months. The senate vowed to build the church of the Redentore if the disease lifted, and commissioned Palladio to design it. The plague and the pledge both shaped the city's skyline. The Redentore church, designed by Palladio, became the site of an annual pontoon-bridge festival Venetians observe to this day.