Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore / St. George's Basilica (Venice)
N 45° 25.777 E 012° 20.569
33T E 292145 N 5034112
Magnificent Renaissance building of the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore (St. George's Basilica) occupies a spectacular site in Venice's centre, where the Grand Canal opens into the San Marco Basin...
Waymark Code: WM7CA4
Location: Veneto, Italy
Date Posted: 10/04/2009
Views: 45
Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore is located on the little island of San Giorgio Maggiore (St. George the Greater). The basilica is one of the masterpieces of Andrea Palladio, the great italian Renaissance architect from nearby Vicenza.
Andrea Palladio was commissioned to build two churches (the other is the Redentore on the neighboring island of Giudecca), beginning with San Giorgio, designed in 1565 and completed in 1610. To impose a classical facade on the traditional church structure, Palladio designed two interlocking facades, with repeating triangles, rectangles, and columns that are carefully and harmoniously proportioned.
Founded as early as the 10th century, the interior of the church was reinterpreted by Palladio with whitewashed surfaces, stark but majestic, and unadorned but harmonious space. The main altar is flanked by two epic paintings by an elderly Tintoretto, The Fall of Manna, to the left, and the more noteworthy Last Supper, to the right, famous for its chiaroscuro. Through the doorway to the right of the choir leading to the Cappella dei Morti (Chapel of the Dead), you will find Tintoretto's Deposition.