San Giorgio Monastery

Coordinates: 45°25′46″N 12°20′37″E / 45.4295096°N 12.3436975°E / 45.4295096; 12.3436975
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
View of the Monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore from the bell tower
View of the island

The San Giorgio Monastery (St. George Monastery) is a

Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, which serves the monastic community. Most of the old monastic buildings currently serve as headquarters of the Cini Foundation
.

History of the monastery

Foundation

The monastery was founded in

Hungarians.[1]

Prestige

San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk, Claude Monet, 1908–1912

Over the centuries the monastery became a theological, cultural and artistic center of primary importance in Europe. The monks had considerable autonomy and close links with Florence and Padua, and thus it became also a favoured location for foreign dignitaries to stay while in the city. In 1177 Pope Alexander III and Frederick Barbarossa met here. In 1204, Doge Enrico Dandolo secured the relics of Saint Lucy for the monastery; they were transferred in 1279 to Santa Lucia in Cannaregio.

In 1223 a violent earthquake destroyed the monastery. In 1433

Baldassarre Longhena designed the new library, the grand staircase, the monastery facade, the novitiate, the infirmary
and the guest quarters.

After the fall of the

Louvre museum
. It is now possible, however, to admire a copy in the refectory which hangs in the place for which the painting was originally created.

The monastery was so important that, in 1799, while

elected Pope Pius VII was convened there.[4] The cardinals met in the chorum nocturnis (or Night choir), where the remarkable canvas St George slaying the Dragon by Vittore Carpaccio
is still displayed.

The decline

Nevertheless, in 1806 the monastery was

suppressed and the monks expelled; many of the monastery's remaining treasures were sold or stolen. Only a few monks were able to remain to serve in the church, while the monastery itself became a weapons depot. For more than a century it was used as a military garrison
, undergoing grave deterioration.

Revival

In 1951 the Italian Government granted the monastery to the Cini Foundation, which restored it and revived its cultural heritage. On 29–30 May 1956 the Venice Conference of the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was held in the San Giorgio Monastery to discuss the Spaak Report of the Spaak Committee.

The old and smaller monastic buildings to the left and rear of the basilica still serve as a small monastery of Benedictine monks, who continue to offer hospitality as part of their mission.[4][5]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 1-57607-355-6
    .
  2. ISBN 978-2-2321-0398-8
    .
  3. ^ Uglow, Jenny (October 21, 2021). "Napoleon's Greatest Trophy". The New York Review of Books. LXVIII (16).
  4. ^ a b Miles, Paul. "Stay in a monastery in Venice: no frills, no crowds and the best views". The Guardian, October 18, 2013
  5. ^ Gillett, David. "Stay in a spectacular monastery in Venice for what you can afford", The Globe and Mail, January 28, 2016

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to San Giorgio Maggiore.

45°25′46″N 12°20′37″E / 45.4295096°N 12.3436975°E / 45.4295096; 12.3436975

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