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San Giorgio Maggiore

Palladio's Church Across the Water

The White Facade • The Campanile View • Across the Basin

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🚤 Your Perfect Venice Experience

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Palladio's Church

Begun 1566, the white front finished 1610

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The Best View in Venice

A lift up the campanile, and rarely a queue

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Two Late Tintorettos

The Last Supper and the Gathering of the Manna

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The Cini Foundation

The old monastery, now gardens and a theatre

🧭 Why Visit

San Giorgio Maggiore is the white church on its own island, directly across the water from St Mark's. You see it in half the paintings of Venice ever made, the calm counterpoint to the crowded waterfront. Take the two-minute vaporetto over and you can ride a lift up its bell tower for what many think is the finest view in the city, over the whole of Venice and the lagoon.

🏛 A Little History

A Benedictine monastery has stood on the island since 982. The church is Andrea Palladio's, begun in 1566, with a white marble front finished in 1610 after his death. Inside hang two great late Tintorettos, the Last Supper and the Gathering of the Manna, painted for the monks in the 1590s.

💡 Did You Know?

The campanile you climb is a 1791 rebuild of one that collapsed, and unlike the crowded tower in St Mark's Square it has a lift and rarely a queue. From the top you look straight back at the Piazzetta, the domes of the basilica, and the Salute, with the open lagoon behind. The island's old monastery is now the Cini Foundation, a cultural centre with gardens and an open-air theatre.

Palladio Across the Water

Across the Basin

The white church that faces St Mark's across the open water of the basin.

San Giorgio Maggiore across St Mark's Basin with its brick campanile and white facade
The Island ChurchAndrea Palladio's church sits on its own island directly across the water from the Piazzetta, a calm white counterweight to the busy waterfront.
San Giorgio Maggiore across the water with a water taxi passing
Across the WaterThe wide basin between St Mark's and the island is the front door of Venice, crossed all day by taxis, vaporetti, and the odd gondola.
San Giorgio Maggiore seen across the basin with a vaporetto in front
The FacadePalladio began the church in 1566, and Scamozzi finished the white marble front in 1610, after his death. It is one of the purest Renaissance facades in the city.
San Giorgio Maggiore framed by wooden mooring poles across the lagoon
Through the PolesThe bricole, the striped mooring posts, march out into the water and frame the island for anyone standing on the Riva.
A wide view of San Giorgio Maggiore across the lagoon under a blue sky
The Long ViewFrom the waterfront the whole island reads at once, the church, the campanile, and the old monastery, now the Cini Foundation.
The Classic View

Framed by Gondolas

Seen past the gondola prows from the Riva, the postcard every visitor takes.

Gondolas moored on the waterfront with San Giorgio Maggiore across the basin in warm light
Gondolas and the IslandThe row of gondolas at the Molo, the island beyond, and the evening light on the water: the view that put Venice on a thousand postcards.
The prow of a gondola with San Giorgio Maggiore across the water behind
Past the ProwLook past a gondola's black prow and there it is, floating a few hundred metres offshore, close enough to seem painted on.
San Giorgio Maggiore seen past a moored gondola across the lagoon
The CompositionPainters from Canaletto on have set up on this quay. The island, the boats, and the water arrange themselves without any help.
San Giorgio Maggiore across the lagoon with gondola prows and mooring poles
The WaterfrontThis is the busiest stretch of waterfront in Venice, and still the calm island across the water is what holds the eye.

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Visiting San Giorgio

  • Take vaporetto Line 2 from San Zaccaria by St Mark's. It is one stop across the basin, a two-minute ride, and boats run often. The island is small and easily seen in an hour.
  • Go up the campanile. There is a lift and a small fee, and the view beats the one from the St Mark's tower, with the bonus that you can see St Mark's itself in the picture. It is almost never crowded.
  • The church is free to enter. Bring coins for the light box by the Tintorettos, which hang in the chancel and are easy to miss in the gloom otherwise.
  • Late afternoon light is best, both for the view from the tower and for the church's white front seen from the Riva across the water. The island is quiet compared with the city, a good hour of calm.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you get to San Giorgio Maggiore?
By vaporetto Line 2 from San Zaccaria, one stop across St Mark's Basin, a two-minute crossing. There is no other way over, as it is a separate island.
Is the campanile worth climbing?
Yes. It has a lift, a small fee, and one of the best views in Venice, looking back at St Mark's, the Salute, and the lagoon. It is far less crowded than the tower in the main square.
What is inside the church?
A cool white Palladian interior and two great late paintings by Tintoretto, the Last Supper and the Gathering of the Manna, in the chancel. The church is free to enter.
What is the Cini Foundation?
A cultural foundation set up in 1951 in the island's former monastery, with a library, gardens, and the open-air Teatro Verde. Parts are open to visitors, sometimes by guided tour.

Explore More of Venice

📷 Gallery

The Rialto Bridge

Venice's Oldest Crossing

📷 Gallery

The Grand Canal

Venice's Main Street

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St. Mark's Square

The Drawing Room of Europe

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Murano, Burano & Lido

The Islands of the Lagoon

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The Bridge of Sighs

Ponte dei Sospiri

📷 Gallery

Doge's Palace

A Thousand Years of Venetian Power

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