Island of San Giorgio Maggiore seen from the Campanile di San Giorgio towards Punta della Dogana and the Giudecca Canal

Island of San Giorgio Maggiore seen from the Campanile di San Giorgio towards Punta della Dogana and the Giudecca Canal (Marco Trevisan, Bazzmann+Venipedia)

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The island of San Giorgio Maggiore was transformed from an agricultural area into a Benedictine monastery in the 10th century. The complex, a masterpiece by Buora, Palladio and Longhena, includes the majestic Manica Lunga, the Refectory and the church of Saints George and Stephen. After serving as a free port and military command post, in 1951 the island was reborn as a cultural centre thanks to the Giorgio Cini Foundation, while still maintaining the Benedictine community, whose monastery is dependent on the Abbey of Praglia.

San Giorgio Maggiore owes its name to a small church built in 790. So called to distinguish it from another island in the lagoon, San Giorgio in Alga, for a long time it was the site of agro-industrial activities and then, in 982, it was ceded by the doge Tribuno Memmo to Giovanni Morosini so that he could build a Benedictine monastery there. Over time it became increasingly important, both because of the privileges and legacies that the Seignory granted it, and because of the growing religious and cultural activity, of which it then became the centre of.In 1223, the first buildings erected we

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