The church of San Giorgio dei Greci is a religious building in the city of Venice, located in the Castello district in Calle della Madonna, near the church of San Zaccaria and is the oldest and most historic church of Orthodoxy in the diaspora. Its construction was made possible thanks to the contributions of the Orthodox Greeks of Venice and the Greek sailors passing through the city. Isolated, towards the Rio dei Greci Canal stands the bell tower. The church was called by the Venetians "dei Greci" or "Greek" because of the ancient Greek language used in the Greek-Byzantine rite professed by its practitioners.
In November 1991, by decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the church became the cathedral of the Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy and Malta.
If you take a walk along the Riva degli Schiavoni, from Piazza San Marco in the direction of the public gardens, you will meet the Ponte della Paglia (with the famous Bridge of Sighs on your left), then the Ponte del Vin (located above the Rio del Vin) and finally a third bridge (over the Rio dei Greci).
Now look right in the direction of the Rio dei Greci: you will notice a church with a steeply inclined bell tower on one side.
Venice has always known the presence and contacts with Christians from the Balkans and more Eastern Christians practicing the Eastern rite, being a commercial port in constant contact with the Byzantine Empire.
In 1081 the Venetians undertook to help the Greeks against the Normans of Roberto il Guiscardo who was about to attack the Byzantine empire; in exchange the Emperor Alexius I Comnenus promised, and granted in 1082, to the Venetian merchants the pre-eminence over all the other Merchants, so that Roberto il Guiscardo was defeated by the fleet of the Doge Domenico Silvo.
The pact between the emperor and the Doge was fundamental for the Republic of Venice, as it marked the beginning of its political, military and commercial power in the Near East where its ships could sail.
After 1092 a migratory flow of Venetian traders developed, reaching Constantinople, while many Greek merchants went to Venice.
With the Fourth Crusade (1204), the Venetians seized a large part of the Byzantine Empire, (the west coast of Greece, the Morea, Naxos, Andro, Euboea, Gallipoli, Adrianople and the Thracian ports on the Marmara Sea) so that the movement of the Greeks from those lands was facilitated. These were mainly employed in navigation and commerce, as well as in other different trades.
church of San Giorgio dei Greci
Address: Calle dei Greci, 3422, 30122
Phone: +39 041 523 9569
Site:
http://www.ortodossia.it/w/index.php?lang=itLocation inserted by
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