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TheSan Giorgio Monastery (St. George Monastery) is aBenedictinemonastery inVenice,Italy, located on the island ofSan Giorgio Maggiore. It stands next to theChurch of San Giorgio Maggiore, which serves the monastic community. Most of the old monastic buildings currently serve asheadquarters of theCini Foundation.
The monastery was founded inAD 982 following the donation of the island by theDogeTribuno Memmo in response to a request by theBlessedJohn Morosini,O.S.B., who wished to establish a monastery there, and who then became the firstabbot. Among the first monks of the community which developed there was St.Gerard of Csanád (Hungarian:Szent Gellért) (980-1046), abishop andmartyr who helped establishChristianity inHungary. He was murdered inBudapest—onthe hill which now bears his name—in the course of apagan insurrection against the Venetian king then ruling theHungarians.[1]
Over the centuries the monastery became atheological, cultural and artistic center of primary importance in Europe. The monks had considerable autonomy and close links withFlorence andPadua, and thus it became also a favoured location for foreign dignitaries to stay while in the city. In 1177Pope Alexander III andFrederick Barbarossa met here. In 1204, DogeEnrico Dandolo secured the relics ofSaint Lucy for the monastery; they were transferred in 1279 toSanta Lucia inCannaregio.
In 1223 a violent earthquake destroyed the monastery. In 1433Cosimo de' Medici, when exiled from Florence, took refuge here. Between 1560 and 1562Andrea Palladio built a newrefectory[2] for whichPaolo Veronese painted the massiveThe Wedding Feast at Cana which was displayed there.[3] In 1566 began the construction of the new church by Palladio, who later designed also the "Palladian"cloister. Between 1641 and 1680Baldassarre Longhena designed the new library, the grand staircase, the monastery facade, thenovitiate, theinfirmary and the guest quarters.
After the fall of theVenetian Republic in 1797, the monastery was deprived of its most precious books and works of art.Napoleon sentThe Wedding Feast at Cana toParis, and at present it is displayed in theLouvre 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, whileRome was occupied by theFrench Revolutionary Army, thePapal conclave whichelectedPope Pius VII was convened there.[4] The cardinals met in thechorum nocturnis (or Night choir), where the remarkable canvasSt George slaying the Dragon byVittore Carpaccio is still displayed.
Nevertheless, in 1806 the monastery wassuppressed 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 militarygarrison, undergoing grave deterioration.
In 1951 the Italian Government granted the monastery to theCini Foundation, which restored it and revived its cultural heritage. On 29–30 May 1956 theVenice Conference of the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of theEuropean Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was held in the San Giorgio Monastery to discuss theSpaak Report of theSpaak 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]
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45°25′46″N12°20′37″E / 45.4295096°N 12.3436975°E /45.4295096; 12.3436975
