Officially founded in 1451, the Scuola di San Giorgio stands testimony to the large Dalmatian community in the lagoon, whom the Venetians used to call Schiavoni.

Venice had always had close contacts with this geographical area of the Adriatic, though these ties intensified in the 15th Century when the Dalmatian territories passed under the domain of the Serenissima. The Schiavoni in Venice felt the need at that time to gather in a place where they could express and enjoy their common identity and culture. They therefore bought the old Ospedaletto Santa Caterina building (a former hospital for the poor), giving it a new marble façade in the 16th Century.
In 1502, the Scuola received a donation that ensured its fame and glory: on his deathbed, the Patriarch of Jerusalem handed the captain of the Venetian troops in Greece the relics of St. George. Upon his return to Venice, the captain gave the relics to the Scuola which then consecrated the saint. That same year, Vittore Carpaccio, a Venetian master and painter, finished a series of fine painting depicting the lives of St. George, St. Jerome, St. Augustine and St. Trifone: masterpieces where Carpaccio reached the peak of his poetic painting.

1500 - CASTELLO - rev. 0.1.7