San Giorgio Maggiore Island

The American Henry James once wrote of the island that it has "a success beyond all reason". The island owes its beauty mainly to its position and to the genius of the Venetian architects. The first church was built in 790, and two hundred years later the Benedictine monastery was added. Both buildings were destroyed by an earthquake. The monastery was rebuilt and in the 16th century.

San Giorgio Maggiore was built on the site of the old church. After the Second World War the buildings on the island became increasingly dilapidated until finally the Italian industrialist Vittorio Cini established the Giorgio Cini Foundation in memory of his son Giorgio. This foundation financed restoration of the dilapidated and decaying buildings and built an International Center of Art and Culture with 30 auditoria, a cinema, an open-air theater and a naval college.

In 1980 the Western Heads of State met on San Giorgio Maggiore for the famous Venice Economic Summit Conference.