The Venetian Republic was known for its religious tolerance. Venice was the only Catholic country in Europe that never executed a heretic through many centuries.
When religious strife and inquisitions were common, non-Catholic residents of Venice, such as the Greeks, were allowed to practice their own faith.
The Castello neighborhood has been home to Venice’s Greek community for centuries. Initially the Greeks worshiped in a chapel in the Catholic church of San Biagio and then in the early 1500’s, they received permission to build the church we see today.
They also built a confraternity (Scuola di San Nicolo) as well as a college, convent, and hospital in the area surrounding the church. The palazzi to the left of the church (the college and the scuola) were built by Longhena, the architect who also built Santa Maria della Salute.
San Giorgio is a Greek Orthodox cathedral with a leaning tower. The church is dedicated to San Giorgio (St. George), the charismatic dragon-fighting, princess-saving saint.
There are four churches in Venice dedicated to St. George. Two Catholic, one Greek Orthodox, and one Anglican (founded by the British). The church faces a canal and the courtyard’s stone are carved with scenes of the saint and the dragon.
The neo-classical Renaissance façade is impressive, made of white Istrian stone with a few mosaic details. There is no real indication that this is not just another Catholic church until you get inside and see the golden Orthodox interior with a women’s gallery over the entrance and an iconostasis (screen) that completely hides the high altar.
This is a great church to visit if you like mosaics and icons. There are 46 icons on the iconostasis which were done by Michael Damaskinos, the greatest artist of the Venetian-Cretan school at the time the church was built.
The most precious work is a 14th c. icon of Christ the Pantocrator, donated by an exiled Greek princess. Another Greek artist (John the Cypriot) frescoed the walls of the cupola under the supervision of Tintoretto.
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