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VENICE
Things to see - the city
Basilica of San Marco
Built in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Basilica with its five imposing oriental-style domes and gilded oriental mosaics dominates the piazza, a masterpiece of Romanesque-Byzantine architecture.
It was designed according to the wishes of the Doge Giustiniani Partecipazio, who wanted to build a structure worthy of receiving the body of the Mark the Evangelist, patron of the city, whose remains were carried to Venice from Alexandria, Egypt, in the year 828.
The facade, on two levels and with five naves, is covered with marble and Byzantine mosaics. From the loggia the four matched bronze horses, Venetian war bounty from the time of the Crusades, extend outward.
The interior, in the form of a Greek cross, contains splendid Byzantine and Venetian mosaics from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
The golden altarpiece covered with enamels and jewels, made by Byzantine and Venetian master jewelers, is also of great historical significance.
The presbytery altar contains the remains of Saint Mark. The bell tower, is separated from the Basilica, is about 100 meters high. At its base is a small loggia built by Sansovino in 1540. It suffered an unexpected collapse in 1902 but was immediately rebuilt according to the original plan. |
