The water bus, line number 82 (red route) leaves for the Island of
San Giorgio at 10 minute intervals with a journey time of approximately
3 minutes. Boats leave "on the nine"… 8.09, 8.19, 8.29,
etc. Until 8.19 the boat leaves from the landing stage preceding the
statue. From 8.29 the boat leaves from the second landing stage after
the statue.
Please be advised that the number 82 leaves from other boat stops on
the Riva degli Schiavoni however the boats do not go directly to the
Island of San Giorgio Maggiore. It is advisable to ask the boat conductor
to confirm your final destination.
Should you wish to arrive at the conference venue from other areas in
the city, the number 82 line also leaves from Ferrovia (the railway
station), Piazzale Roma (Car and Bus Terminal), and Zattere boat stops,
leaving for the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore every 20 minutes.
For further information with regards to the Public water transport system
in Venice please consult the ACTV
website.
Short description
Fondazione Giorgio
Cini is located on the Island of San Giorgio (see tha map),
and is one of the most important architectural complexes in the world
for its magnitude and artistic value. In the history of the Venetian
Republic there was no great personality who resisted the temptation
of spending a few hours in contemplation among the walls of its silent
cloisters, and many were the illustrious visitors who underwent its
fascination, in the suggestive setting between sky and water.
In 790 the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore required its name from a small
church dedicated to St. George and from the year 982 it became the seat
of a Benedictine monastery. Over the centuries the Abbey of St. George
grew and prospered, acquiring great prestige as a centre of spiritual
and cultural diffusion, but also as a privileged site of meeting and
refuge. This growing prosperity was matched by the development of its
monumental buildings of the sixteenth century. The Gothic complex in
the centre of the island, which currently hosts Fondazione Giorgio Cini,
was superseded by a Renaissance reconstruction. The present church is
the work of the greatest architect of the Veneto Renaissance, Andrea
Palladio. It was begun in 1556 and completed at the beginning of following
century, after Palladio's death. The paintings include masterpieces
like The Last Supper and The Fall of Manua by Jacopo Tintoretto, and
other canvasses by Domenico Tintoretto, Jacopo Bassano, Palma il Giovane
and Sebastiano Ricci. In 1799, in the upper chapel, the Conclave was
opened, where Pope Pius VII was elected, and where a painting by Carpaccio
hangs representing St. George slaying the dragon.
To the right of the square in front of the church is the entrance to
the two cloisters of the ancient monastery. The second cloister, the
inner and more ancient one, gives access to the Chapter House with a
Lombardesque portal, and the grandiose Palladian Refectory. This hall
was the fruit of a collaboration with Paolo Veronese who, in order to
"open up" the end wall, painted a huge canvas representing
the Wedding Feast at Cana, which was taken to Paris during the Napoleonic
period to hang in the Louvre. In its place you will find a painting
of the Tintoretto school representing the Marriage of the Virgin.
The monumental staircase and the library are the work of Baldassare
Longhena. The library, situated on the first floor, is furnished with
shelves and wooden statues by Franz Pauc and decorated with a series
of ceiling paintings by two famous mannerists of the seventeenth century,
generally know as "i fratelli lucchesini" (The brothers from
Lucca).
The far wing of the cloister is closed by the famous Dormitory, 128
metres in length and built at the end of the fifteenth century by Giovanni
Buora and his son, Andrea from Lugano. This forms part of the Salesian
Institute found here today.
With the fall of the Serenissima, the Island began to suffer the devastation
and pillage of occupying forces, first during the Napoleonic period
and later under the domination of the Austrians. After the closure of
the Benedictine monastery, San Giorgio became a free port and some warehouses
were constructed on the northern side, while the dock was closed by
a small jetty. After a brief popular revolt against the Austrians in
1848, the Island was used for Austrian military installations. It maintained
this function, though with entirely different aims, even when Venice
became part of the kingdom of Italy in 1866.
After World War II, the Island was rescued from this period of decline,
which lasted for more than a century, and from its inevitable consequences
thanks to the Giorgio
Cini Foundation, a private institution created by Count Vittorio
Cini in memory of his son Giorgio, who died in an air crash. The Foundation
was legally recognised by a Presidential decree on 12 July 1951, and
the Island was conceded to the Cini Foundation for the purpose of restoring
the historical buildings and founding its own cultural institutions.
The restoration of the Island and its buildings was carried out between
1951 and 1954.
At the very beginning three independent centres were established on
the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore: the Naval Training Centre, the Arts
and Trades Centre and the Culture and Civilisation Centre.
Further information
Further information on the Fondazione Giorgio Cini and its activities
is available at http://www.cini.it/.
