San Servolo is an Italian island in the Venetian Lagoon, to the southeast of

San Giorgio Maggiore San Giorgio Maggiore ( vec, San Zorzi Mazor) is one of the islands of Venice, northern Italy, lying east of the Giudecca and south of the main island group. The island, or more specifically its Palladian church, is an important landmark. It h ...

. Earlier housing a monastery of Benedictine monks, later an asylum for the insane, the island is now home to a museum,

Venice International University Venice International University (VIU) is an international center for higher education and research located on the island of San Servolo, in Venice, Italy. It was established on December 15, 1995 as a consortium of five Universities and two Ita ...

, and the prestigious International College of

Ca' Foscari University Ca' Foscari University of Venice ( it, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, simply Università Ca' Foscari) is a public university in Venice, Italy. Since its foundation in 1868, it has been housed in the Venetian Gothic palace of Ca' Foscari, from ...

0 Venise, Îles de San Servolo et du Lido - Lagune de Venise

History

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monks lived on this island from at least the eighth century and for almost five hundred years. They were joined later by nuns escaping from the convents of Saints Leone and Basso on the island of Malamocco, which had been destroyed by a

seaquake A submarine, undersea, or underwater earthquake is an earthquake that occurs underwater at the bottom of a body of water, especially an ocean. They are the leading cause of tsunamis. The magnitude can be measured scientifically by the use of the ...

. At the beginning of the 15th century the nuns departed, but they were soon replaced by a few dozen other nuns, who were fleeing the Turkish invasion of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

. However, by the beginning of the eighteenth century, only a few were left, and soon thereafter the Senate of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...

designated San Servolo as the site of a new military hospital, needed due to the continuing war against the Turks. Later the hospital was used to care for the mentally ill. In 1978, government-instituted reforms of psychiatric treatment resulted in the closure of the hospital. The next year, the Venice government established on the island the "Istituto per le Ricerche e gli Studi sull´Emarginazione Sociale e Culturale" (Institute for the Study of Social and Cultural Marginalization) to preserve the documents associated with the history of the psychiatric hospital.

, a center for research and education and a collaboration among ten universities from around the world, was formed on San Servolo in 1995. Since 2012, the island is home to the Ca'Foscari International College, a state-funded honours college aimed at students from multilingual and multicultural backgrounds. Also noteworthy is the rich flora of San Servolo, originally planted for the island's pharmacy, which was used to supply medicine to the military.

Arts and letters

Recently, San Servolo has started hosting an annual international artist residency and has become the site for numerous exhibitions, festivals and performances.

Gallery

File:Isola di san servolo 2.jpg, Buildings of the Benedictines File:San Servolo (lagune de Venise) (6382196291).jpg File:SAN SERVOLO.JPG File:Isola di San Servolo in Venice 002.jpg File:San Servolo (lagune de Venise) (3752627217).jpg File:Isola di San Servolo (Venise) (5045491248).jpg

References

External links

Official page of San Servolo

Venice International University

Google Satellite Map of Isola di San Servolo
{{Authority control Islands of the Venetian Lagoon