Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore / St. George's Basilica (Venice)
N 45° 25.777 E 012° 20.569
33T E 292145 N 5034112
Quick Description: Architectonically remarkable Renaissance building of the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore (St. George's Basilica) is located at prominent spot of Venice's centre at San Giorgio Maggiore island, where the Grand Canal opens into the San Marco Basin...
Location: Veneto, Italy
Date Posted: 10/4/2009 11:42:15 AM
Waymark Code: WM7CA7
Views: 7
Long Description:
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.