The South Lagoon of Venice

• Venice's islands

Excursion to the islands of the lagoon, San Giorgio Maggiore, San Lazzaro degli Armeni.

This is still a boat cruise on the Lagoon but in this case we will sail the southern part.

San Giorgio Maggiore, which is located in St. Mark’ s Basin and offers a unique panorama overlooking St.Mark’ s Square and the Punta di Dogana, the island hosts one of the best example of Palladio’ s genius, the Church of San Giorgio as well as one of the main cultural establishments in Venice, the Fondazione Cini, which was from 982 the seat of a Benedictine monastery and nowadays after many past restorations
The Foundation furthermore takes an active part in other more farreaching editorial enterprises and also welcomes in the island of San Giorgio study meetings and conferences organized by other qualified scientific and cultural Institutions, both Italian and foreign. One part of the property is still inhabitated by the friars.

Under special permission we are able to visit the foundation with its two cloisters of the ancient monastery, the Sala del Capitolo (The Chapter House), with a Lombardesque portal, and the grandiose Palladian hall of the Refectory. The Monumental staircase and the library are the work of Baldassare Longhena. The library, situated on the first floor, is furnished with shelves and wooden statues by Franz Pauc and decorated with a series of paintings of the seventeenth century. The far wing of the cloister is closed by the famous Dormitory, 128 metres in length, built at the end of the fifteenth century.

The second stop will be, San Lazzaro degli Armeni, Situated just near the Lido the Island of San Lazzaro is a small conventual centre, recognizable by the dome of its white bell-tower, where buildings are surrounded by nice gardens, cypress trees and peacocks. From the XVIII century San Lazzaro is an Armenian monastery and a centre of diffusion of the Armenian culture. It has an extraordinary collection of treasures, including: a 150,000-volume library; more than 4,000 Armenian manuscripts, some nearly 1,300 years old; a Koran created after the death of Mohammed; an Indian papyrus from the 13th Century; a Egyptian sarcophagus and mummy from the 15th Century B.C.; thrones, tables, statues, paintings, tapestries, gold, silver, jewels, and other items that the monks either bought or received as gifts over the centuries.

Moreover by special agreement with the monks we can arrange a private cocktail after the visit in one of the romantic cloisters (to be quoted separately), the cocktail can be a pre-lunch aperitif or it can be a light buffet lunch.