Santa Maria di Nazareth is a Roman Catholic Carmelite church in Venice, northern Italy. It is also called Church of the Scalzi (Chiesa degli Scalzi) being the seat in the city of the Discalced Carmelites religious order (Scalzi in Italian means "barefoot"). Located in the sestiere of Cannaregio, near Venezia Santa Lucia railway station, it was built in the mid 17th century to the designs of Baldassarre Longhena and completed in the last decades of that century.
The church is also known for the extract of fresh leaves of Melissa. The extract is the therapeutic remedy par excellence of the Carmelite tradition. The Discalced Carmelite friars have been producing it for three centuries, remaining faithful to the ancient recipe, which dates back to the early 18th century.
We arrived at Santa Mario di Nazareth close to dusk, just before leaving Venice. We went inside the chruch through the small shop selling extract of leaves of Melissa, moving from the small corridor that from the shop, leads to the beautiful church of Santa Mario di Nazareth.
Santa Mario di Nazareth Church. The air is filled with burnt incense. Leica Q2M
The air, full of burnt incense, gave body and substance to beautiful blades of light that passed the entire structure of the church like golden spears. The magic moment didn't last more than a few minutes, but it was enough to be able to enjoy it, both with the soul and with the camera.
