Santa Maria dei Miracoli

Arguably one of the most exquisite churches in the world, Santa Maria dei Miracoli was built in the 1480s to house a miraculous image of the Madonna, reputed to have revived a man who had spent half an hour underwater in the Giudecca Canal, and also to have cancelled all traces of a knife attack on a woman. Inside, the 50 painted ceiling panels by Pier Maria Pennacchi (1528) are almost impossible to distinguish without using binoculars. Instead, turn your attention to the church’s true treasures: the delicate carvings by the Lombardos on the columns, steps and balustrade, with their exquisite, lifelike details.