Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Miracoli (Church of St. Mary of Miracles), Venice

At the very edge of the Cannaregio district stands a church that English art critic, John Ruskin considered one of the finest buildings in Venice, along with the Great School of Saint Mark ("Scuola Grande di San Marco"). This architectural gem is Santa Maria dei Miracoli, often referred to simply as Miracoli.

Constructed between 1481 and 1489, its purpose was to house a revered image of the Madonna, painted in 1409, which later gained a reputation for performing miraculous acts. The Madonna was credited with reviving a man who had spent half an hour submerged in the waters of the Giudecca canal, as well as restoring a woman who had been left for dead after being stabbed.

The church's construction was made possible by the generous donations left at the nearby shrine dedicated to the revered painting. The mastermind behind its design was likely Pietro Lombardo, who miraculously managed to compress the building to fit its allocated space. Lombardo also created the illusion of grandeur by employing variations in exterior colors, adding additional pilasters on the canal-facing side of the building, and skillfully offsetting the arcade windows to create the impression of deeper arches.

Upon entering the interior, adorned with lavish marble, visitors are greeted by an array of intricate decorative sculptures, showcasing the unparalleled craftsmanship found in Venice. The balustrade at the altar end features "The Annunciation" and half-length figures of two saints, often attributed to the artist Tullio. At the opposite end of the church, below the nuns' choir, the columns are adorned with extraordinary filigree stonework, featuring delicate depictions of tiny birds with legs as slender as cocktail sticks. The miraculous Madonna, created by Nicolò di Pietro, still graces the altar, while overhead, an extraordinary sequence of fifty saints and prophets, painted in 1528 by Pier Pennacchi, is embedded into the unique panelled ceiling.