- San Giorgio Maggiore
San Giorgio Maggiore is one of the islands of
Venice , lying east of theGiudecca and south of the main island group. The isle is surrounded by "Canale della Grazia", "Canale della Giudecca ", "Saint Mark Basin ", "Canale di San Marco " and the southern lagoon. It forms part of the San Marco sestiere.The island 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 consecrated toSt George ; thus it was designated as "San Giorgio Maggiore" to be distinguished fromSan Giorgio in Alga .The
Benedictine Monastery of San Giorgio was established in 982, when thedoge Tribuno Memmo donated the whole island to a monk, GiovanniMorosini . The monks drained the island's marshes next to the church to get the ground for building.San Giorgio is now best known for the
Church of San Giorgio Maggiore , designed byPalladio and begun in1566 .In the early
nineteenth century , after the Republic fall, the monastery was almost suppressed and the island became afree port with a newharbour built in1812 . It became the home of Venice'sartillery .It is now the headquarters of the
Cini Foundation arts centre , known for itslibrary and is also home to theTeatro Verde open-airtheatre .In the anime series
Negima! , the Library Island design is based on, and likely identical to, to San Giorgio Maggiore.References
* Guida d’Italia del Touring Club Italiano – Venezia. 3° ed. ISBN 978-88-365-4347-2
* S. Vianello (a cura di) Le chiese di Venezia. Electa, 1993 ISBN 88-435-4048-3ee also
*
San Giorgio Monastery
*Church of San Giorgio Maggiore External links
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=venice,+italy&ll=45.428260,12.343955&spn=0.006009,0.020548&t=k&hl=en Satellite image from Google Maps]
* [http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/europe/san-giorgio.shtml Pictures of San Giorgio Maggiore]
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