Day 16: The Basilica of Saint Mark

The Basilica of St. Mark is the most famous church in Venice. It is a Byzantine style church whose original construction dates to 828 AD when Venice was more closely affiliated with Constantinople than with Rome, hence the eastern architectural influence. 

The basilica is dedicated to St. Mark the Evangelist who established the Christian church in Alexandria, Egypt. Mark was martyred in 68 AD, and legend holds that in 828 AD, two merchants from Venice stole Mark's body and brought it back to Venice concealed in a barrel and covered with pork meat. Mark's body concealed in this way was not found by Egyptian Muslim customs inspectors, because they would not touch pork.

Mark's body was buried in the original church, which was lost to fire, as was a second church. However the relics were eventually secured in the crypt of the present day structure of St. Mark's Basilica.

Tim at the entrance to St. Mark's Baslica.

Mosaic over the entrance to St. Mark's. Since the original church was Byzantine by design, mosaic became the decoration of choice for the new church. This Basilica took over a hundred years to build and another three hundred years to decorate. The interiors of the church include more than 8,500 square meters of walls, floors and ceilings covered in mosaics that basically tell the story of the new testament on the interior surfaces of the church.

View of the Venice lagoon from the second-floor terrace over the entrance to St. Mark's.

Tim and I are standing on the marble terrace over the entrance to the Basilica.

Detail of the Byzantine architecture of St. Mark's.

The bronze Horses of St. Mark's Basilica. These are replicas. The originals were moved to the interior of the church when air pollution began to cause deterioration in the 1980's

Piazza San Marco from the front terrace of the Basilica. These buildings were used for governmental offices in the time of the Doges. Now they house an insurance company.

These are the original Horses of St. Mark's Basilica. They date to antiquity and may actually be more than 2,000 years old. They are almost pure copper instead of bronze, probably because at the time they were created, copper was more conducive to gold plating. It is thought that these magnificent sculptures were once completely covered with gold and the eyes were set with precious gems. They probably formed part of a monument called a "quadriga" which was a racing chariot pulled by four horses. They stood above the Hippodrome in Constantinople, but were looted from there in 1204 as part of the Fourth Crusade, when they were brought to Venice and mounted over the entrance to the Basilica.

This photo does not do them justice. They are finely detailed down to the veins standing out on the necks and faces. They are breathtakingly beautiful in person--even though they have lost most of their gold plating and precious eye stones.

Photos are forbidden inside St. Mark's, but this one from the Internet shows the mosaic ceilings with all the lights on. Although the surfaces appear to be painted and gilded, it is all done with glass mosaic. Mosaic was the preferred decoration for eastern religious buildings, and with Venice the center of glass manufacturing, mosaic was a natural choice to decorate the new Basilica.

Another view of the cupola at the junction of the transepts. Hard to see in this photo, there are 14 marble statues standing across the top of the screen that formerly separated the congregation from the priests celebrating mass. These 14 figures represent Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the Twelve Disciples. During the invasion of Venice by Napoleon, these marble figures were hidden in barrels of oil to prevent their looting by the French Emperor. The oil stained the marble, and from this distance, they appear to be bronze.

The main altar in St. Mark's Basilica where the relics of the body of St. Mark are enshrined.

After leaving St. Mark's, we crossed the Rialto bridge to wander in the shops on the north shore of the Grand Canal. Of course we ran across more churches!

This the Church of St. Roch (San Rocco in Italian.) St. Roch was born in Montpelier on the border with France, to a woman who was barren until she prayed to the Virgin to grant her a child. Roch supposedly was born with a red birthmark on his chest in the shape of a cross, which grew as he did. Like Francis of Assisi, he gave away his worldly goods when his parents died and began a pilgrimage to Rome. These were the plague years, and Roch is reputed to have saved many people from the plague by curing them miraculously as he traveled.

Relics of Roch's body were brought to Venice in the 1500's when he was declared a patron saint of the city, and this church was built in his honor. Every year on St. Roch's feast day, August 16, the Doge would make a pilgrimage to this church to honor him. This year, the church and the School of St. Roch will perform an opera in his honor. Too bad we will miss it.

Next door to the Church of St. Roch stands the stately Scuola di San Rocco (the Confraternity of St. Roch) which was founded in 1478 by a group of wealthy Venetians. The Scuola was dedicated to victims of the plague that was killing Venetians in that time, and fit nicely with St. Roch's history as patron saint of plague victims.

In 1564, the great Venetian painter Tintoretto was hired to decorate the interior of the Scuola with frescoes. These are still available today and can be seen for a small fee. They are said to be among Tintoretto's best works.

Near St. Roch's church stands the massive brick cathedral of St. Mary of the Friars (Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari). Built by the Franciscan order in the 1300's and dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, this massive church boasts the second highest campanile in the city. Only St. Mark's is higher.

Entrance to St. Mary's of the Friars.

Imposing facade of St. Mary's. The churches in Venice, like all the buildings, are crowded to closely, it is difficult to appreciate their architecture from a distance. Back up too far to take a picture, and you just might find yourself in a canal!

Interior of St. Mary of the Friars.

Enough churches for today, or as Tim would say, then end of our "ABC tour" (any bloody church) of Venice. How about some wine? I think the saints would approve.