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| The Redentore Feast-day |
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| The Redentore today |
«The whole of Venice met outside, on the water... covering a vast expanse... thousands of gondolas had gathered together, each with ten, twenty, or even thirty coloured lights hanging all over them... As far as the eye could see these multi-coloured lights were amassed like a huge garden of multi-coloured flowers... there was music everywhere. Thus enveloped by music, magnificence and beauty I felt so inspired by the atmosphere and sights, that even I burst into song...»
20 July 1867
M. Twain, A tramp abroad
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The “famous night”
Tradition dictates that at sunset the well illuminated boats, decorated
with boughs and coloured balloons, begin congregating in Saint Mark’s
Basin and the Giudecca Canal.
In the boat, there are either carefully prepared or hastily put-together
tables laden with traditional Venetian dishes for dinner.
Everyone eats, drinks, dances and jokes whilst waiting for the firework
display, which begins at 11.30pm and lasts until after midnight.
Then the boats slowly set off for home or for the Lido, to wait for
sunrise. |
The votive bridge
To permit direct access to the Redentore a temporary bridge of boats
(330 metres long) crosses the Giudecca Canal.
On Saturday and Sunday thousands of people cross the bridge to visit
the church and, on Saturday evening, to see the firework display
from the brightly lit banks of the Giudecca.
Traditionally, the inhabitants have dinner at long tables on the
banks of the Giudecca Canal.
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Boats and illuminations
Whilst thousands of tourists watch the firework display from the banks
of the Giudecca and along Saint Mark’s Basin, Venetians traditionally
watch it from their specially decorated boats which are illuminated
with coloured paper lanterns.
The surface of the water is literally teeming with thousands of lights
and boats. |
The religious ritual
The official religious festivities are concentrated over Saturday
and Sunday.
 On
Saturday at 10am, the cycle of religious activities begins with
the “Holy Mass of the Cathedral Chapter and the nine Congregations
of the clergy” which continues in the afternoon and has two
vital moments at 7.30pm (after the official opening of the bridge)
and at 0.30am (after the firework display).
Another 8 masses are held on the Sunday, including the solemn votive
Mass presided over by the Patriarch and civic dignitaries; this
ends in the procession with the Holy Sacrament and the blessing
of the city. |
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The Redentore Feast-day | The plague | The vow | The end of the plague
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