Venice & the Veneto City Guide by Lonely Planet

Author:Lonely Planet
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications

Practicalities

» Offline map

» Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore

» adult/reduced €3/2

» 9.30am-12.30pm & 2.30-6.30pm Mon-Sat, to 4.30pm Oct-Apr

» San Giorgio Maggiore

The island of San Giorgio Maggiore has belonged to Benedictine monks since the 10th century, though current constructions date from the 16th century. When Palladio arrived in Venice in the 1560s, the monks asked him to remodel their dining hall. They liked his work so much, they asked him rebuild their church as well.

Palladio’s Facade

Palladio was the first architect to gracefully solve the problem of trying to graft a classical-style triangular pediment onto the facade of a Christian church, with its high central nave and much lower side aisles. Palladio’s innovation: have your cake and eat it too. He uses one pediment to crown the central nave, and a lower, much wider pediment that spans both side aisles. The two interlock with a rhythmic harmony. In another fine piece of showmanship, Palladio gave the facade depth with three-quarter columns, deeply incised capitals and cornices, and shadowy sculptural niches. The dramatic play of light and shade makes it hard to look away.

Church Interior

Palladio’s interior is an uncanny combination of brightness and serenity. Sunlight enters almost mysteriously through high thermal windows and is then softened and diffused by the white stucco surfaces, playing gently across the geometrical harmonies of the church’s individual parts. Floors inlaid with black, white and red stone draw the eye toward the altar, beyond which lies a particularly large choir. With its rigorous application of classical motifs, it’s reminiscent of a Roman theatre.

Campanile

Avoid the lines at the Campanile in Piazza San Marco and instead head to the back of this church and take the lift (€3) to the top of the 60m-high bell tower for stirring panoramas of Venice and its lagoon.

Tintorettos

Two enormous late works by Tintoretto flank the church’s altar. On one side hangs his Fall of Manna , in which soft light is diffused as generously as the bread that falls from heaven. On the other side of the altar, Last Supper depicts Christ and his apostles at a table set at a rakish angle and depicted in a scene that looks suspiciously like a 16th-century Venetian tavern. Nearby hangs what is considered Tintoretto’s last work, the moving Deposition of Christ .

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