San Servolo
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At the onset of the 9th century a group of Benedictine monks established a small church and monastery on San Servolo. The church was dedicated to San Servolo, a martyr from the 3rd century, who was born in Trieste. In the 12th century a group of Benedictine nuns from nearby Malamocco established a convent on the island. However, by 1615, both the monks and the nuns had disappeared and San Servolo was virtually uninhabited.
All this changed, in 1647, when 200 nuns, who had been exiled from Crete following the invasion of the island by the Turks, set up residence in San Servolo. Seventy-five years later, in 1712, only two nuns remained on the island and, on the orders of the Venetian state, the pair were moved elsewhere and their convent was turned into a military hospital. The hospital was run by monks of the Fatebenefratelli monastery. A century later the hospital was converted into use for the mentally ill. The hospital finally closed down in 1978. In recent years San Servolo has become the venue for numerous exhibitions and festivals. It is also hosts a Conference Centre, the only in Venice to offer accommodation, according to its website. |
San Servolo
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