San Giorgio Maggiore ( vec, San Zorzi Mazor) is one of the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, lying east of the

Giudecca Giudecca (; vec, Zueca) is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, in northern Italy. It is part of the '' sestiere'' of Dorsoduro and is a locality of the ''comune'' of Venice. Geography Giudecca lies immediately south of the central islands of Ve ...

and south of the main island group. The island, or more specifically its Palladian church, is an important landmark. It has been much painted, featuring for example in a

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

Location

The isle is surrounded by ''Canale della Grazia'', ''

Canale della Giudecca The Giudecca Canal ( vec, Canal de ła Zueca) is a body of water that flows into the San Marco basin in Venice, Italy. It is one of the major canals in the city, it bisects the ''sestieri'' of Dorsoduro, separating Giudecca island and district fr ...

'', '' Saint Mark Basin'', '' Canale di San Marco'' and the southern

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...

. It forms part of the

San Marco San Marco is one of the six sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city as the main place of Venice. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Although the district includes Saint Mark's Square, that was never admin ...

sestiere A (plural: ) is a subdivision of certain Italian towns and cities. The word is from (‘sixth’), so it is thus used only for towns divided into six districts. The best-known example is the ''sestieri'' of Venice, but Ascoli Piceno, Genoa, Mi ...

. File:Districts venice - san giorgio maggiore.png, San Giorgio Maggiore within Venice

History

San Giorgio Maggiore was probably occupied in the Roman period; after the foundation of Venice it was called ''Insula Memmia'' after the Memmo family who owned it. By 829 it had a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

consecrated to St George; thus it was designated as ''San Giorgio Maggiore'' to be distinguished from

San Giorgio in Alga San Giorgio in Alga (English: "St. George in the seaweed") is an island of the Venetian lagoon, northern Italy, lying between the Giudecca and Fusina (a ''frazione'' of Venice on the coast, near Marghera). History After a Benedictine monastery ...

. The

San Giorgio Monastery The San Giorgio Monastery (St. George Monastery) was a Benedictine monastery in Venice, Italy, located on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. It stands next to the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, which serves the monastic community. The old monas ...

was established in 982, when the Benedictine monk John Morosini, Giovanni Morosini asked the Doge (title), doge Tribuno Memmo to donate the whole island for a monastery. Morosini drained the island's marshes next to the church to get the ground for building, and founded the Monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore, and became its first abbot. San Giorgio is now best known for the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, designed by Palladio and begun in 1566. The belltower has a ring of 9 bells in C#. In the early 19th century, after the Republic of Venice, Republic fell, the monastery was almost suppressed and the island became a free port with a new harbour built in 1812. It became the home of Venice's artillery.

Today

San Giorgio Maggiore is now the headquarters of the Cini Foundation arts centre, known for its library, and is also home to the Teatro Verde open-air theatre. In addition, it features two harbours managed by the Compagnia della Vela: Darsena Crose, facing north (see second image below) and Darsena Verde, facing south.

In popular culture

The island and the church were featured in a pivotal showdown in the anime and manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Vento Aureo.

References

* ''Guida d’Italia del Touring Club Italiano'', Venice, * {{Authority control Geography of Venice Islands of the Venetian Lagoon

Location

History

Today

In popular culture

See also

References