Baldassarre Longhena was an Italian architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

, who worked mainly in Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, where he was one of the greatest exponents of Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 architecture of the period.

Biography

Born in Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, Longhena studied under the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi

Vincenzo Scamozzi

thumb|250px|Portrait of Vincenzo Scamozzi by [[Paolo Veronese]]Vincenzo Scamozzi was a Venetian architect and a writer on architecture, active mainly in Vicenza and Republic of Venice area in the second half of the 16th century...

 and after Scamozzi's death completed his monumental Procuratie Nuove in St. Mark's Square, a complex of imposing residences and offices for officials of the Venetian Republic that gives the square its appearance today.

His best-known work is the elegantly decorated Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute

Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute

The Basilica of St Mary of Health , commonly known simply as the Salute, is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica located in the Dorsoduro sestiere of the Italian city of Venice. It stands on a narrow finger of land between the Grand Canal and the Bacino di San Marco making the church visible...

 begun in 1631 to thank the Virgin for the city's deliverance from the plague

Black Death

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...

. This two dome

Dome

A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....

d church on the peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

 between the Canal Grande

Grand Canal of Venice

The Grand Canal is a canal in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city...

 and the Zattere is one of the city's best-known landmarks. The main entrance, modeled on the Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 triumphal arch

Arch

An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...

, was later copied in successive churches and cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

s, in Venice and elsewhere.

He designed many other churches in the city, among them the Chiesa dell'Ospedaletto and Santa Maria degli Scalzi

Scalzi (Venice)

The church of Santa Maria di Nazareth or church of the Scalzi is a religious building in the sestiere of Cannaregio in Venice, near Venezia Santa Lucia railway station. It was built in the 18th century by Baldassarre Longhena....

 built between 1656 and 1680, although the façade of the latter church was designed by Giuseppe Sardi

Giuseppe Sardi

Giuseppe Sardi was an Italian architect active in Rome. He was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, Marche which was then part of the Papal States...

. He also designed the Palazzo Belloni Battagia  and the Palazzo Giustiniani Lolin, both facing the Canal Grande.

One of his largest designs was the cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 at Chioggia

Chioggia

Chioggia is a coastal town and comune of the province of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy.-Geography:...

, executed between 1624 and 1647. On the completion of the cathedral he designed two other palaces on the Grand Canal

Grand Canal of Venice

The Grand Canal is a canal in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city...

 of Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, Ca' Rezzonico

Ca' Rezzonico

Ca' Rezzonico is a palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice. Today it is a public museum dedicated to 18th century Venice. - Design :Ca' Rezzonico stands on the right bank of the canal, at the point where it is joined by the Rio di San Barnaba. The site was previously occupied by two houses...

 and Ca' Pesaro

Ca' Pesaro

The Ca' Pesaro is a baroque marble palace facing the Grand Canal of Venice.Originally designed by Baldassarre Longhena in mid-17th century, the construction was completed by Gian Antonio Gaspari in 1710...

, both completed after his death.

Between 1641 and 1680 he designed the new library, the grand staircase, the monastery façade, the Novitiate building, the sick-room and the guest-rooms of the San Giorgio Maggiore monastery.

Baldassarre Longhena died at Venice in 1682.