San Servolo is an Italian island in the Venetian Lagoon, to the southeast of San Giorgio Maggiore. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The Venetian Lagoon is the enclosed bay of the Adriatic Sea in which the city of Venice is situated San Giorgio Maggiore is one of the islands of Venice, lying east of the Giudecca and south of the main island group (45. 418654 N, 12. 35698 E)
History
From at least the eighth century and for almost five hundred years, Benedictine monks lived on this island. Benedictine refers to the Spirituality and Consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in They were joined later by nuns escaping from the convents of Saints Leone and Basso on the island of Malamocco which was destroyed by a seaquake. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer At the beginning of the fifteenth century the nuns departed, but they were soon replaced by a few dozen other nuns, who were fleeing the Turkish invasion of Crete. Crete ( Greek: Κρήτη transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the However, by the beginning of the eighteenth century, only a few were left, and soon thereafter the Senate of the Republic of Venice designated San Servolo as the site of a new military hospital, needed due to the continuing war against the Turks. The Most Serene Republic of Venice ((Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia Serenissima Repubblica Later the hospital was used to care for the mentally ill. (As a consequence, the question "Ma ti xe de S. Servolo?"— "Are you from San Servolo?"— was commonly used to ask whether someone was crazy.
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 hostpital. Venice International University, a center for research and education and a collaboration among ten universities from around the world, was formed on San Servolo in 1995.
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
Like the rest of Venice, San Servolo has inspired generations of writers and artists — particularly its history as an insane asylum.
Recently, San Servolo has started hosting an annual international artist residency and has become the site for numerous exhibitions, festivals and performances.
External links
- Official page of San Servolo
- Venice International University
- Google Satellite Map of Isola di San Servolo
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