Chiesa di Santa Maria della Visitazione

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The Santa Maria della Visitazione is a Renaissance church, though no one is quite sure who the architect was; both Mauro Codussi and Tullio Lombardo are given credit for at least parts of the design. The Jesuate order also built a monastery with several cloisters beside and behind the church. The order was suppressed in 1668, and the Dominicans took over the complex and soon decided they needed a larger church. Instead of demolishing the smaller church, they built it next door and left the older church standing, which is very unusual for Venice.

History

For a while, the old church was a library and then the entire religious complex was suppressed by the French in the early 19th century. Santa Maria della Visitazione eventually reopened as a church and today, it’s the oratory for the Istituto Don Orione, who have turned the monastery into a conference center and “modern” religious guest house with free Wi-Fi in the open air cloisters.