San Servolo

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San Servolo is an island belonging to Italy in the Venetian Lagoon, to the southeast of San Giorgio Maggiore. (45.418654 N, 12.35698 E)

[edit] History

From at least the 8th Century and for almost five hundred years, Benedictine Monks lived on this island. 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. 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. However, by the beginning of the 18th Century, only a few were left, and soon thereafter the Senate of the Republic of Venice designated it 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. (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 between 10 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.

[edit] Arts & Letters

Like the rest of Venice, generations of writers and artists have been inspired by San Servolo--particularily its history as an insane asylum.

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