SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE

Description

Essentials about San Giorgio Maggiore in brief

The small island of San Giorgio Maggiore is one of the most photographed and most visited sights in Venice and should definitely be on the bucket list when traveling to the lagoon city. Every day, crowds of tourists flock to the island, just 200 meters from Piazza San Marco, to see the church and monastery of the same name. The real highlight of the island, however, is the fantastic view that can be enjoyed from San Giorgio Maggiore. From the church’s bell tower, you can enjoy a breathtakingly beautiful panoramic view of all of Venice. Many people claim it is the most beautiful view of Venice ever.

The location of San Giorgio Maggiore

The island of San Giorgio Maggiore is located on the southside of the San Marco Basin. It is 490 meters long, up to 320 meters wide and has an area of almost 10 hectares. San Giorgio Maggiore is just over 200 meters from Piazza San Marco, the heart of Venice’s historic center. Even closer is the larger neighboring island of Giudecca – both islands are separated only by a canal about 30 meters wide.

The history of San Giorgio Maggiore

The church on the island belongs to the complex of buildings of a Benedictine monastery, whose origins date back to 982. The monastery subsequently developed into one of the most important monasteries of the order in Italy. In 1109, relics of St. Stephen, the first martyr of Christianity, arrived at the monastery from Constantinople, making it one of the important pilgrimage destinations in the lagoon city, along with the tomb of St. Mark the Evangelist. In addition to St. George, the patron saint of war craft and the imperial palace in Byzantium, St. Stephen is the patron saint of the church.

In 1565 Andrea Palladio, the most important architect of the Renaissance in Northern Italy, was commissioned to rebuild the church, which had fallen into disrepair. The building plan was ready already one year later and in 1575 the hull of the church was completed. It was not until 1610 that the building was also fully equipped on the inside, so that the church could be consecrated. Palladio himself did not live to see the completion of San Giorgio Maggiore. He died in 1580.

In the spring of 1800, Pius VII was elected pope in San Giorgio Maggiore, as the conclave had been moved to Venice due to Napoleon’s Italian campaign and the occupation of Rome by French troops. During the occupation of Venice by the French, San Giorgio was also plundered and the centuries-old library was dissolved. Since that time, the monastic buildings fell into disrepair until, on the initiative of a wealthy Venetian, they were restored and used as a cultural and research center from 1951.

The church of San Giorgio Maggiore

The church stands at right angles to the adjacent monastery building, creating a church square in front of the building, paved with colored stone slabs. The church is effectively set off by the adjacent flat monastery buildings made of reddish brick. The ensemble of San Giorgio Maggiore – together with the 18th-century campanile, which bears a very strong resemblance to St. Mark’s Campanile in Piazza San Marco, not far away – is of outstanding importance to the overall image of Venice. Palladio succeeded in creating a visual axis from Piazza San Marco across the Piazzetta and the Bacino di San Marco through the form and positioning of the church building. The gaze is not lost in the infinity of the sea, but finds a foothold and a destination.

The church Il Redentore on Giudecca, also designed by Palladio at the same time, has a comparable temple-like façade of Istrian stone and is also conceived for the view from the Piazzetta di San Marco, and is also placed in an optical connection with San Giorgio through a slight alignment with the latter. In terms of urban planning, these two church buildings by Palladio – together with the later Salute Church on the Punta della Dogana – are of formative importance for the appearance of Venice at its political and cultural center.

Palladio’s façade of Istrian stone was conceived with the aim of projecting the front of a Roman temple onto a Christian church. Palladio divided the façade by four colossal semi-columns on high pedestals, reproducing the three-nave layout of the church, whose central nave is three times the width of the side aisles.

The columns frame the single portal and a square inscription panel, and support the temple pediment crowned by a statue of the Risen Christ. On the upper pediment corners are adoring angel figures, and on the lower pediment corners are statues of St. Mark (left) and St. Benedict of Nursia (right). To the right and left of the portal, in two round-arched niches, are the figures of the two patrons of the church, Saints Stephen and George. The two outer aedicules contain epitaphs for the two Doges buried in San Giorgio Maggiore, Doge Sebastiano Ziani on the right, Doge Tribuno Memmo to the left made by Giulio Angolo del Moro.

The domed ambulatory of the church is made of reddish brickwork and, like the outer walls, is only sparingly decorated with elements of Istrian stone. The church is a cruciform basilica with a dome over the crossing and a white barrel vault in the nave. The transepts are closed in a semicircle.

The huge and very bright interior of the church is world famous mainly because of some paintings. Among them are the two large paintings The Last Supper and The Fall of Manna by Jacopo Tintoretto. The altarpiece Adoration of the Shepherds by Jacopo Bassano is also one of the most important paintings in Venice.

The campanile of San Giorgio Maggiore

The real highlight of the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, however, is the view that you can enjoy from the church’s bell tower, which is about 60 meters high. After a ride in the elevator, probably the most beautiful panorama you can ever have of this so unique city and the lagoon surrounding it opens up. Many believe it to be the very best view of Venice anywhere, surpassing even the view from St. Mark’s Campanile. And besides, on most days the queues in front of the campanile of San Giorgio Maggiore are much shorter than at St. Mark’s Campanile, so visitors can enjoy this so magnificent view much faster.

The Fondazione Giorgio Cini

If you want to see even more of the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, you should visit the Fondazione Giorgio Cini (Giorgio Cini Foundation), which is housed in the buildings of the former monastery. The monastery buildings have been renovated with great attention to detail and can be visited on guided tours.

The Giorgio Cini Foundation is one of the most internationally renowned cultural institutions. It has its own research facilities dealing with art history, the history of Venice, music and theater. In addition to exhibitions and workshops, international conferences are also held on the premises of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.