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The Basilica San Marco - what to look out for

The Basilica di San Marco was built during the eleventh century and was embellished and reworked for the next five hundred years, as the mp3cityguides guide to Venice, explains.

The church of San Marco has a distinctly Byzantine or Eastern European look and this was because Venice had strong trade links with the Eastern Mediterranean and Venetian merchants regularly bought - or simply stole - works of art from Constantinople, today’s Istanbul.

One of the most striking aspects of the front of the church are the two rows of arches.  The columns between the lower arches are made of marble salvaged from earlier churches.  Amongst the various reliefs between the arches you can see Hercules carrying a boar, the Virgin Mary, the angel Gabriel and finally, over on the right, St George who is a patron saint of Venice as well as England, killing the dragon.

Saint Mark himself wasn’t Venice’s first patron saint.  That honour fell to San Teodoro but as the city grew in wealth and importance during the ninth century it was decided that it should trade up.  The official story was that Saint Mark had been sailing on a boat in the lagoon when an angel appeared to him and told him that Venice would be his resting place.

The real story which the Venetians are not at all ashamed of is that two merchants were sent to Alexandria in Egypt where Saint Mark was entombed.  They took the body - or its remains anyway - and brought it back to Venice where it lay in the first church on this site before being transferred to this one.

Above the door furthest over to the left you can see a mosaic showing St Mark arriving at the Basilica.  This is the earliest mosaic on the whole exterior of the church.  The next one above the next door along to the right dates from the eighteenth century as you can see by the stronger colours, the more naturalistic look of the people and the detail.  It shows Venetians venerating the relics of St Mark.

The middle doorway has a mosaic showing the Last Judgment above it featuring Christ with the cross and people being drawn up to Heaven or dispatched to Hell.  Below that the three carved arches around the central portal are fine examples of Romanesque which was the artistic style of the early middle ages.  If you look up at the inside of the outer arch you’ll see it shows shipbuilding, barrel making and fishing, all of which were typical Venetian activities.  The middle arch depicts the months of the year - towards the top you can see grapes, signifying September.

The inner arch here shows the Earth, the seas and seven pairs of animals, perhaps an illusion to Noah's ark.

The next doorway along depicts Venice welcoming the arrival of St Mark while the fifth doorway shows St Mark’s body being taken from Alexandria.  You’ll notice that the men in turbans are looking disgusted and appalled by the contents of the basket.  This is because it was said that the saint’s body was hidden under joints of pork so that the Alexandrians who were Muslim and regarded pig meat as unclean wouldn't go near the contents of the basket.  You can see one man is even holding his nose.

Above the doorways is a balcony which you can get to from inside the church.  It's well worth it for the views and the chance to get close up to the upper row of mosaics which show scenes from the life of Christ.  The central window has arches either side which you can see images - from left to right - of Christ being removed from the cross, his descent into hell, his resurrection and, finally, his ascension.  In front of this central window are four horses - one of the great symbols of Venice.  In fact these are copies, the originals are protected from the elements in the church's museum.

At the top of the basilica you can see a statue of St Mark with angels on either side of him.

If you want to go in the church be prepared to queue and to get shuffled through pretty quickly.  It's well worth trying to see, though - there are some 4,000 square metres of gold mosaics and a stunning gold altar piece.

About the Author

I write city walking tours that you can download on to a mp3player or iPod. I tell you where to walk and tell you about what you're seeing as you see it.