Italy Events and Festivals

7/01/2009 - 7/31/2009Feast of the Redeemer (Il Redentore)

This festival commemorates the end of the 1576 bubonic plague that killed tens of thousands of citizens. There is usually a week-long programme of events leading up to the third Sunday in July. The focus of attention is the Franciscan church of the Redentore on the island of Giudecca, a masterpiece designed by Palladio. Every year, the Doge has made a pilgrimage here, by way of a pontoon bridge erected specially for the occasion. Now visitors can make this same pilgrimage to the island across the pontoon from Zattere - the only time Giudecca is accessible on foot. During the festival, there is a regatta, bands and musical performances, church services, fireworks and feasting in the streets.