Middle East for Dummies -- Part 1 (definitions)

As we continue to hear and read about events unfolding in the Middle East, it's amazing how little most of us know about the religious, cultural, and ethnic makeup of this troubled area.  Therefore, I've decided that I'll learn more about these issues and pass them on to my readers in order to make us all more informed citizens as we re-engage in the conflicts that seem to unfold there with unfortunate regularity.

ISIS (for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria):  The most commonly used acronym for the extreme terrorist group of Sunni Muslims that arose during the Syrian civil war and during the summer of 2014 seized large parts of northwestern Iraq.  

ISIL (for Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant):  The acronym favored by President Obama and members of his administration for ISIS.  

The Islamic State ('IS', I suppose):  Their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, calls his group (ISIS) and the territory that it occupies in Syria and Iraq simply 'the Islamic State'.  On Wednesday, September 17th, the front page of the New York Times agreed stating: 'American ground troops will not be involved in fighting the Islamic State, also known as Isis or ISIL.'  The Times has continued to use the Islamic State on subsequent days.

Caliphate, Caliph:  Al-Baghdadi (the caliph) has proclaimed the Islamic State to be a 'caliphate' which is a term for a Muslim territory ruled by a 'caliph' who exerts both religious and civil authority over the citizens of the area. The Islamic State aims to impose strict Islamic law (shariah) over all of the territory that it controls.  And the Islamic State aims to control more and more territory. Since IS is a Sunni Muslim organization, IS believes that the Sunni branch of Islam is the only true religion and that the very harsh Sunni version of shariah practiced by IS is the only true law.

Shariah, Sharia:  The system of religious and civil law and personal conduct contained in the Quran (Koran), the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Quran was revealed by God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years.  Shariah provides various grisly forms of death for the sins of adultery, homosexuality, apostasy, and blasphemy.  

Sunni Islam:  Abu Bakr, the father of Muhammad's wife, Aisha, claimed the caliphate of Muhammad upon his death in 632 A.D.  Abu Bakr's followers are Sunnis.  Sunnis are the dominant Islamic sect in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, most of the Persian Gulf states, and most of northern Africa.  

Shi'a (or Shia or Shi'ite or Shiite) Islam: Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali, husband of his daughter, Fatimah, by another wife, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, also laid claim to the caliphate when Muhammad died.  Ali's followers are Shi'a. Shi'ites are dominant in Iran (89%).  Iraq is split between Sunni (20-30%) and Shi'ite Muslims (60-70%) and Kurds (10%).  

Kurds, Kurdish, Kurdistan:  An ethnic group native to Kurdistan -- a region that crosses the borders of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey and even Armenia.  The Kurds speak the Kurdish language and are defined by their ethnicity, not their religion --in fact, although a majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims, they practice many different religions and are generally tolerant of different religious practices.  The ethnic enclave of Kurdistan today includes parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran and even a small swath of Armenia, which makes all of those countries nervous.

Map showing approximate borders of Kurdish area overlaid on current borders.

Palestinians:  An ethnic group who are the modern descendants of Arabic peoples that historically occupied Palestine, an area that is holy to Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions.  About 85% of Palestinians are Muslim (predominantly Sunni).  While most Palestinians are crowded into the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, there are Palestinians living in Israel -- over 17% of Israeli citizens are (presumably Palestinian) Muslim. There are concentrations of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan and there is a Palestinian diaspora around the world.

Ottoman Empire:  At its height the Ottoman Turks from their capital of Constantinople much of the Middle East, as well as southeastern Europe, North Africa and both shores of the Red Sea . 

While the Sultans were the absolute rulers and the Turkic people were Muslim, this was not a caliphate and the Sultans were not caliphs.  For many years a majority of those governed were Christian.  By Ottoman tradition, non-Muslim populations were granted state recognition and allowed to practice their own religion. The Ottoman Empire had been crumbling since 1830 and collapsed during the First World War when it was allied with the Germans.  By that time less than 20% of the Empire was non-Muslim (primarily Christians and Jews). 

Mandates:  territories that were under the influence and protection of either Britain or France following the First World War, although they were not technically part of their empires.




Palestine:   The Holy Land was one of the British mandates, and we all know how that turned out.  Somewhere during the emergence of the state of Israel in the late 1940's, the kingdom of Jordan became a separate state (over 90% Sunni Muslim) and many Palestinians became disenfranchised and basically stateless.  

Iraq:  Iraq was also a British mandate (known as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia).  It is troublesome that the British chose not to acknowledge that Iraq was composed of mutually antagonistic (or at least very distrustful) Shi'a, Sunni and Kurdish elements which primarily occupied their own separate enclaves, except for the capital, Baghdad where Shi'a and Sunni Muslims coexisted uneasily.  

Syria:  Syria was a French mandate which contained distrustful elements of Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds.  We're well aware of what's happened there in the last three years of civil war with primarily Sunni rebels fighting the Assad regime -- which has ruled Syria for about 50 years.   The Assad family is Alawite -- a branch of Shi'ite Islam -- and is supported and heavily influenced by Shi'ite Iran.

Arab Spring:  The wave of civil unrest and revolutionary uprisings known as the 'Arab Spring' actually began in December 2010 and continued through mid-2012.  Much of the unrest and rebellion of the 'Arab Spring' was reaction to the oppressive regimes of dictators who had long been in power. But it was also caused by tension between Islamists (primarily fundamentalist Sunnis), like the Islamic Brotherhood in Egypt.  The Islamists were seeking to impose some form of shariah by confront more religiously moderate sectarian governments.  During the 'Arab Spring' dictators were forced from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen. There were also protests in Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Kuwait, Morocco and Sudan.  

Jihad, Jihadi:  One thing that is common to both major sects of Islam, is the concept of 'jihad' -- the duty to fight for Allah.  Islamic scholars disagree on whether jihad refers to an inner struggle for Allah and against sin, a military struggle against non-believers, or both.  It is clear that the Islamic State believes that 'jihad' is the violent struggle by Sunnis against all other forms of religious belief and civil order. Those who engage in jihad are jihadis.

Lebanon, Lebanese:  Because the land of Lebanon was occupied by various groups over many centuries, it is composed of several ethnic groups -- about 54% are Muslim (split almost equally between Shia and Sunni) and just over 40% Christian split between several denominations including Maronites who are about 22% of the population.  From 1914 to 1932, Lebanon was a French mandate.  

Hezbollah:  This terrorist group based in Lebanon, is predominantly Shi'ite.  It is primarily focused on the defeat of Israel.

Hamas:  This is both a political movement and a rebel group that has been labeled 'terrorist' by the Israeli government, the U.S. government, and several other Western governments.  It is predominantly Sunni and is the dominant Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.

PLO/Palestine Liberation Organization:  The PLO governs the 'West Bank'.  It is also predominantly Sunni, but more moderate than Hamas both politically and religiously.

West Bank:  The West Bank is an area occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.  Many countries (nearly 70% of member nations of the United Nations) have recognized the West Bank as part of the State of Palestine.  Israel continues to seize land and build and occupy settlements in the West Bank despite the condemnation of most other nations.

Italian Trip Diary -- Day #16 -- Venice

Thursday, June 28, 2001, Venice:

On our last full day in Venice we decided that we’d spend the morning going to I Frari, the art-filled church toward the railroad station from our hotel.  We decided to take the vaporetto from San Marco.  

Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, main facade in Venetian Gothic style.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

The morning was grey and there were a few sprinkles as we got off the boat, so we didn’t linger too long viewing the exterior, a red brick perpendicular Gothic structure with the second tallest (after San Marco) campanile in Venice. 

 Campanile of Frari, the second tallest in Venice.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

It is similar in style to San Zanipolo.  The interior is another treasure house of Venetian art. 

Nave of Frari looking east.  The rood screen surrounding the choir is the only one still in place in Venice.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

The main altarpiece is an 'Assumption of the Virgin' by Titian done in rich reds and golds.

Choir of dei Frari with Titian's 'Assumption of the Virgin' above altar.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

There are three distinct sections – the Apostles in shadows at the bottom, the Virgin rising on an arc of cherubs and clouds at the center, and a welcoming God the father with two angels in a dark streak at the top. The altarpiece is set against an arc of quadruple stacked lancet windows and closed off from the nave by a choir screen of marble.  Throughout the church there are tombs and monuments to famous Venetians, including the striking almost art nouveau pyramid in white marble for the sculptor Canova

The tomb which Antonio Canova designed for himself in the church of dei Frari.  Note the winged Lion of Venice sleeping just to the left of the doorway.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

and a huge triumphal arch for Titian.

This grandiose arch replaced a simple floor tile in the mid-19th century to mark the grave of the artist Titian.
Note the relief sculpture depicting Titian's 'Assumption of the Virgin' which is the church's altarpiece.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

Titan's 'Madonna of the Pesaro Family' above a side altar in dei Frari.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

'John the Baptist' by Donatello in the center of this altarpiece.
It is the only work by Donatello in Venice.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

'Triptych of St. Mark (center) with Saints John, Jerome, Peter and Nicholas' by Bartolomeo Vivarini, 1474.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

'Altarpiece of St. Ambrose' by Alvise Vivarini, 1503.  The Vivarinis were sort of the in house
artists for the basilica.  Photo by Blomme-McClure.

We had to get back to our hotel so that we could assemble a picnic lunch of tramazinni and sodas and be ready for the water taxi that we had reserved at noon for a two-hour tour.  Doug plotted a route on a map from the concierge that took us through the canals behind San Marco going by San Zanipolo

The unfinished facade of San Giovanni and San Paolo, a.k.a San Zanipolo.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

and San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti;

Church of San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi in 1601.
It is surrounded by the Ospedale Civile which is on the site of the old lepers hospital.
Photo by Blomme-McClure 

then out along the cemetery island of San Michelle

Isola di San Michele, the cemetery island of Venice where Sergei Diaghilev and Igor Stravinsky are buried.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

(where Diaghilev and Stravinsky are buried).

Church of San Michele on Isola di San Michele.  The church is dedicated to the Archangel Michael who holds the
scales on Judgement Day -- fitting for a cemetery church.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

The Church of Santa Maria Assunta, a.k.a. I Gesuiti, near the Lagoon.  This is where St. Ignatius of Loyola
founded the Jesuit order in 1535.  The church was designed by Domenico Rossi.  The statues on the gable are
by Giuseppe Torretti and portray 'The Assumption of the Virgin' (they seem a little bulky for the overall scale of the facade).  Photo by Blomme-McClure 

Leaving the lagoon we headed back into the city along the Rio di Sant'Alvise and 

Church of Madonna dell'Orto north of the railroad station.  The facade dating from 1464-1466
is in the mature Venetian Gothic style.  The contrast between the filigreed marble decoration
 and the warm red brick is striking.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

through the Ghetto;

Approaching the Ponte dei Tre Archi on the Cannaregio Canal.  It's the only three arched bridge in Venice.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

across the Grand Canal near the railroad station; 

Santa Maria di Nazareth, a.k.a. Chiesa degli Scalzi,designed by Baldassarre Longhena and built
between 1672 and 1680 sits on the Grand Canal near the station.  Photo by Blomme-McClure
.

down through Santa Croce and Dorsoduro; then along the Guidecca Canal between the church of I Gesuati designed by Massari

Santa Maria del Rosario, a.k.a. I Gesuati designed by Giorgio Massari on the Guidecca Canal begun in 1726.

Photo by Blomme-McClure 

and the church of Il Redentore considered by many to be Palladio's masterpiece.

Andrea Palladio's Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore, a.k.a. Il Redentore, built in 1577 to 1592 to celebrate the deliverance of Venice from the plague in 1575-76.  Like Palladio's San Giorgio Maggiore, the facade was under wraps when we were there in June, 2001.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

The dome and double campaniles of Il Rendentore by Palladio from Rio della Croce
 that cuts through the Giudecca.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

After bisecting the Giudecca on the Rio della Croce, we came up alongside of the Cipriani Hotel to our left and San Giorgio Maggiore to our right with the Palazzo Ducale and San Marco straight ahead.

Campanile, a bit of San Marco, and the Doges Palace.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

Coasting behind the island of San Giorgio Maggiore we got a lovely view of Palladio's church and campanile

Church and Campanile of San Giorgio Maggiore with marina.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

before making a trip up the Rio di Giardini to see the church and leaning tower of San Pietro di Castello near the Arsenale.

Looking down the Rio de le Virgine to the leaning Campanile of San Pietro di Castello.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

Then we headed back along the Riva degli Schiavoni toward the Dogana di Mare

Dogana di Mare at the junction of the Giudecca and Grand Canals.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

and up the Grand Canal past the Salute

Santa Maria della Salute on the Grand Canal.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

to the Rio di San Luca,

Palazzo Salviati (Hotel) on the Grand Canal.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

then back to our hotel’s water door. 

Gondoliers and bridge on canals near our hotel.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

Somehow, the driver took us along the entire route while we merrily snapped pictures of the wonderful passing scene – churches, palazzos, bridges, campaniles, gondolas, vaporetti – almost too enchanted to remember to eat our picnic lunch.

Our water taxi and driver pulling away from the 'water door' of the Hotel Cavalletto.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

Returning from this midday tour, we decided to have ice cream in San Marco at Caffe’ Lavena (Piazza San Marco, Venezia) one of the outdoor cafes on the piazza. Then, in order to have the requisite gondola ride in Venice, we took the traghetto near the Gritti Palace Hotel across the Grand Canal and back with a walk along the small canals on the other side between trips.

Gritti Palace Hotel (right) from the traghetto landing across the Grand Canal.  The traghetto is a wide gondola
that is used to get across the Grand Canal where there are no bridges.  George and I stayed at the Gritti Palace
on our first trip to Italy in the 70's.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

For our final evening in Venice, we decided to have dinner at Harry’s Dolci on the Giudecca Canal (Giudecca 773, Venezia, 041-5224844 or 041 5208337).  We took the vaporetto to the Palanca stop and then walked along the Fondamenta San Euphemia to Harry’s as the sun began going down.  The restaurant is on the quay with La Salute and the campanile of San Marco rising on the far side of the canal.  As we dined, the sun set and the lights of the city came on.  It was a magical place for a leisurely dinner with almost loving service and delicious food – a perfect summation and conclusion for our magical days in 'La Serinissima'.

'Last Days of Vietnam' by Rory Kennedy

Saturday, we saw 'Last Days of Vietnam', a documentary produced and directed by Rory Kennedy.  It is an extremely important movie -- and also a beautifully organized and presented one.

Official poster for 'Last Days in Vietnam'

The movie uses a mixture of archival footage from various sources with articulate and well-chosen talking heads to tell the story of the fall of Saigon in April, 1975.

The Paris Peace Accords in January, 1973, lead to a ceasefire and the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Vietnam in the following months.  The subsequent impeachment and resignation in August, 1974, of President Richard Nixon, sufficiently changed the cast of characters who had negotiated the fragile accord.  The North Vietnamese took advantage of the anti-war sentiments and unsettled political atmosphere in the U.S. to violate the Paris Accords and begin encroaching on South Vietnam.

By early April, 1975, it was clear that the Viet Cong was intent on taking Saigon.  Many thought that they were planning to conquer Saigon in time to celebrate Ho Chi Minh's birthday in early May.

Unfortunately, the American ambassador in Saigon, Graham Martin, refused to concede that South Vietnam was lost, and as a result, resisted planning for an orderly evacuation.  

There were initially four viable options for evacuating American citizens, their dependents and the many South Vietnamese who had supported them.  However, Martin's unwillingness to face the situation allowed the three best options to slip away.  That left only the use of helicopters for most of the evacuation.

As the U.S. copes with the fallout from its withdrawal from Iraq and moves ahead with its withdrawal from Afghanistan, it is certainly instructive to reacquaint ourselves with the havoc created by end of our misadventures in Vietnam.

Rory Kennedy's movie is foremost a tale of the heroism and sacrifice in the face of desperation and chaos.  But it is also a cautionary tale, well-told, of unnecessary hardship because those 'in charge' were unwilling to deal with very real consequences.

Ms. Kennedy, a daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, and her editor, Don Kleszy, were at the showing we attended at Sunshine Cinemas.  During the Q. and A. following the movie, Rory Kennedy brought up the way that the South Vietnamese were relocated to the U.S. after the fall of Saigon.  It could provide a useful model for helping to resolve the current immigration mess in the U.S.

For those of you who can't see this documentary in a movie theater near you, look for it on your PBS station sometime in the future (PBS is one of the films producers).  It is a powerful reminder of how U.S. leadership can fail when it is too much swayed by public opinion or preconceived ideas -- especially as we deal with our current views on avoiding foreign entanglements and winding down unwanted wars.

Italian Trip Diary -- Day #15 -- Venice

Wednesday, June 27, 2001, Venice:

After early breakfast at the hotel (the waitresses were arguing – it seemed to be the thing in Venice) we took out our street map (required knapsack material in Venice) and found our way to San Zanipoli (short for St. John & St. Paul in Venetian dialect – go figure) in the tranquil 'back country' of Venice where the canals are narrow and largely empty and the tourist crowds thin out noticeably.

The façade, which is incomplete, is in a vertical gothic style done in red brick with decorative elements in multi-colored marbles.  

Basilica di San Giovanni e Paolo a.k.a. San Zanipoli was begun in 1333.  It is dedicated to two
obscure Christian martyrs, not the two Apostles.  It is a Dominican preaching churches and the
burial place of 15 Doges of Venice.  Photo by Blomme-McClure.

Main door of San Zanipolo showing transition from finished marble surround and unfinished brick facade.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

Unfortunately the lovely tiled piazza in front of the church (where Katherine Hephurn fell into the canal in 'Summertime') was surrounded by scaffolding.  

Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni by Andrea Verrocchio, bronze, 1486
 on Campo San Giovanni e Paolo.  Photo by Blomme-McClure 

The interior is in brick gothic with a semi-circle of lancet windows behind the altar.  

Interior of San Zanipolo has steel supporting cross beams.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

The Chapel of the Rosary on the left of the altar contains large paintings by Veronese. 

Monument of Pietro Mocenigo, Doge from 1474 to 1476, by Pietro Lombardo,
Istrian stone and marble, 1476-1481.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

There are numerous monuments and chapels dedicated to doges and other Venetian notables. 

Tryiptych in Chapel of St. Vincent Ferrier by Giovanni Bellini.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

The last chapel on the right aisle contains a notable triptych by Giovanni Bellini with St. Vincent Ferrier in the center flanked by St. Christopher and St. Sebastian (that perennial favorite of Italian painters and gays).

Triptych (detail) by Giovanni Bellini of 'St. Christopher, St. Vincent Ferrier, and St. Sebastian', oil on wood panel,
circa 1464.  Photo by Blomme McClure

By trial and error we made our way to Santa Maria dei Miracoli, a lovely small church set on a small serene campo beside a canal.  The multi-colored marble façade is composed of a bottom story with inset classical columns with a single middle door surmounted by a second story with five irregular arches supported on inset classical columns which is in turn surmounted by an enormous round arch punched with a large rose window surrounded by three smaller circular windows and two marble rosettes. 

Upper facade of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, a Venetian Renaissance gem, designed by Pietro Lombardo,
built from 1481 to 1489.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

Lower facade and entrance door of Santa Maria dei Miracoli.  The superimposed columns
and multi-colored marble are a feature of Venetian Renaissance architecture.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

It is a lovely and dynamic composition.  The interior with a single nave under the giant barrel vault is less remarkable.

From Campo dei Miracoli, we somehow made our way to another church, San Francesco della Vigna, which had some lovely art.  The main facade of the church was designed by Andrea Palladio in 1562.  

Main facade of San Francesco della Vigna, by Palladio, 1562.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

The rest of the exterior and interior of the church follows the designs of Jacobo Sansavino and was built between 1530 and 1554.

Nave and altar of San Francesco della Vigna, designed by Jacobo Sansavino.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

The church contains the Badoer-Giustinian Chapel with an altarpiece and side walls by Pietro Lombardo and his workshop that Sansavino salvaged from an earlier church on the sight.

'Saint Jerome (center) with St. Agnes, St. Michael, St. James, and St. Anthony' by Pietro Lombardo
and other members of the Lombardo family and workshop, marble, circa 1500-1530.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

Panels from the former choir screen were incorporated into the walls of the chapel.

Reliefs of Old Testament kings and prophets by the Lombardo workshop with angel heads by Sansavino, in an
adaptive reuse of the choir screen of the former church.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

Detail of relief of Job (I think) by Lombardo workshop with Sansavino angel head.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

Giovanni Bellini's 'Virgin and Child with Four Saints and Donator', oil on wood, circa 1507, 
in San Francesco della Vigna.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

'Last Supper of Christ' by Girolamo da Santacroce, circa 1540.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

After San Francesco della Vigna we found our way to lunch at a table along side the canal at Trattoria ai Greci (Castello 4988, Venezia)

George (in red) and Carl (in rose) canal-side at Trattoria ai Creci.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

with a view down the canal to the leaning tower of San Giorgio dei Greci which appeared to be about to fall into the canal.

San Giorgio dei Greci with leaning Campanile.  This Greek Orthodox church was permitted by
the pope in 1539 and was completed by 1550.  The bell tower was added in 1592.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

After lunch we walked across Venice to the Accademia Bridge, passing the church of San Zaccaria on the way.

Church of San Zaccaria built in the early Venetian Renaissance style between 1458 and 1515.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

 Actually, George stopped at a cyber-café on the Campo San Stefano for about an hour to catch up on e-mail (our Italian internet connection didn’t work in either Padua or Venice) while Doug and Carl went on ahead.  The Accademia Bridge is another of the three bridges over the Grand Canal.  Unlike the Rialto, it is a wooden structure with very little grace or special presence – it just gets you across the Canal and provides a great vantage point for looking up

View up the Grand Canal from the Accademia Bridge.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

and down the Canal.

View down the Grand Canal toward Santa Maria della Salute and the Dogana.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

The Accademia has a vast collection of (mostly) Venetian art.  The paintings are often very large – many were created to be altarpieces in churches and chapels.  All of the great Venetian artists – Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto, Bellini, Lotto – are represented, sometimes by great masterpieces.  Yet, it is fascinating how some paintings by lesser artists catch the eye and remain in memory, while those selected by curators and noted by guidebooks disappoint and become dim.

George caught up with us in the galleries, allowing Doug a chance to revisit some of the works with special appeal.

Emerging from the Accademia, we found a café along the canal for refreshments and then walked through the “left bank” or Dorsoduro to Santa Maria della Salute. 

Grand Canal facade of Santa Maria della Salute designed by Baldassare Longhena.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

This Baroque church was designed by Longhena, who won a competition to build a church to celebrate the deliverance of Venice from the plague (beating out Palladio).  The church is distinguished by a huge dome supported by large snail-like buttresses that rises above an octagonal base that sits at the top of an enormous staircase ascending from the Canal.

High Altar by Longhena is centered on a Byzantine 'Madonna and Child' from the 12th or 13th
century and is topped by a Baroque sculptural group of 'The Queen of Heaven Expelling the Plague'
from 1670 by Josse de Corte, a Flemish sculptor.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

 

Interior of Santa Maria della Salute.  Photo by C. Koivuniemi

The interior seems quite austere compared to the exuberant exterior, but has a distinct charm and is a treasure house of Baroque art (probably great, but seen through eyes saturated by the works in the Accademia). 

'Descent of the Holy Ghost' by Titian, oil on canvas, 1545.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

The geometric marble floor

Marble floor in Santa Maria della Salute.  Photo by C. Koivuniemi

serves to focus the observer to the center of the church under the great dome.

Dome on octagonal drum, Santa Maria della Salute.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

We took the vaporetto from the steps of La Salute back to San Marco and thence through the Piazza to our hotel.  That evening we had dinner outside at Ristorante Al Theatro (San Marco 1916, Venezia) which sits next to the site of Venice’s opera house, La Fenice.  La Fenice burned down several years ago and is now under reconstruction.  Apparently, there have been some previous attempts to rebuild it which have ended in corruption rather than construction.

We had delicious food and were amused watching confused tourists going by with maps – many were back several times during the course of the meal.  Venice is that sort of a place and part of the fun for us was getting lost and discovering new and interesting places.