San Giorgio Maggiore

▪ church, Venice, Italy

 architecturally influential church in Venice, designed in 1566 by Andrea Palladio (Palladio, Andrea) and finished in 1610 by Vincenzo Scamozzi (Scamozzi, Vincenzo). The church stands on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, opposite the monumental San Marco Basilica, and is one of the first sights of Venice visible to the traveler approaching by sea.

 Palladio's facade shows a characteristically Mannerist (Mannerism) arrangement of Classical elements, dominated by a central pediment that is flanked by the two halves of a broken pediment. The building is also notable for its spacious, light-filled interior, in which a screen of columns separates the high altar from the monastic choir behind it.

 

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