The square and the whole area take their name from the Church of Health, by Longhena. The construction of the church began in 1631, the year that ended the plague that killed eighty thousand people in the city, to fulfill the vow the Venetians made to the Virgin Mary the year before praying for the end of the plague.
Prior to the church in the area there were a monastery and a church dedicated to SS. Trinity that the Patriarchate of Venice received from the Teutonic knights after the suppression of their Venetian priory end of 1500, and had turned into a seminary.
With the construction of the church, the Venetian Senate decreed that the square should be visited once a year by the population, crossing a floating bridge built between the two banks of the Grand Canal, a tradition that continues today and is celebrated the 21st of November.
The celebration, still very dear to the Venetians, consists in bringing a candle to the Virgin Mary entering the church in procession and then return home visting the nearby Rio Terà dei Catecumeni, where are set up stall selling toys and sweets. During the celebration, in the six altars of the Church the Mass is continually celebrated, with a special devotion to the Madonna dal volto bruno con Bambino (Our Lady with the black face and Child).
In addition to the church and a portion of the customs, now a center for contemporary art, you can admire the well-head in field the other two at the adjacent Campo di San Gregorio, one of which is placed inside the garden of Palazzo Genovese, now a hotel.