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St. Mark's Basilica
The Basilica di San Marco (St. Mark's Cathedral) in Venice, Italy
Basilica di San Marco / St. Mark's CathedralPiazza San Marco
Vaporetto: San Zaccaria, San Marco-Giardinetti, or San Marco-Vallaresso
tel. +39-041-522-5205
www.basilicasanmarco.it
Book a tour: Viator.com
Open 9:34am–5pm (Sunday 2–5pm, or 4pm winter)
» In winter, Museo di San Marco closes 15 min. before church; Pala d'Oro and Tesoro close 30 min. before church
Church: free
»Museo, tesoro, pala d'oro: Small adm each
Viator.com tours
• Skip the Line: Venice Walking Tour with St Mark's Basilica
• Skip the Line: St Mark's Square Highlights Tour
• Skip the Line: Venice in One Day
Sights nearby
*** Piazza San Marco [square]
* Campanile di San Marco [bell tower]
*** Palazzo Ducale [palace/museum]
*** Grand Canal [sight]
Museo Civico Correr [museum]
Bacino Orseolo [gondola parking lot]
Where to eat nearby
***Bistrot de Venise [meal]
*Da Aciugheta [meal/pizza]
**Osteria a la Campana [light meal]
**Vino Vino [light meal]
Rosticceria Teatro Goldoni [light meal/snack]
Hotels nearby
***Hotel Danieli [splurge]**Hotel ai do Mori [moderate]**Hotel Violino d'Oro [moderate]» More hotels in San Marco from Venere.com
» More hotels in San Marco from Booking.com
ReidsItaly.com Venice Map
» View ENLARGED MAP with all listings
TOURS FROM OUR TRUSTED PARTNERS that include Venice
Intrepid Travel 2011 Italy trips
• Best of Italy
• Italy Uncovered
• Italy Experience
• Classic Italy
• Italy Family Adventure
• Highlights of Italy
• Umbrian Discovery
Not just Italy...
Paris to Venice
Venice to Istanbul
G Adventures 2011 Italy trips
• Ultimate Italy
• Italy Culture and History Explored (9 days)
• Venice to Rome Adventure
• Italy Family Adventure
iExplore Italy trips 2011
• Italy Experience (9 days)
• Italy in Style (9 days)
» THE VENICE BOOKSHELF
St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice. (Yes, the city is trying to do something about all the pigeons.)Let's just come out and say it: there simply is no church in Europe more lavishly decorated, more exquisitely mosaicked, more glittering with gold than San Marco, the cathedral of Venice.
Built in the 11th century, St. Mark's guiding principle in architecture and decoration is Byzantine, but Romanesque and Gothic styles have left their mark as well over six centuries of expansion and decoration.
The atrium, ceilings, walls, and multiple domes are all encrusted with over 40,000 square feet of gold-backed mosaics crafted between the 12th and 17th centuries.
The oldest of these mosaics were created by Eastern masters, and later ones were based on cartoons by Tintoretto, Veronese, and Titian.
The glittering gold mosaics of St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice. (Photo by Ricardo André Frantz)The floor is a reflection of the mosaic craft in marble, an undulating wonderland of color and pattern.
The church's most disappointing aspect is that it's so popular and its lines so long you are shuffled through like sightseeing cattle, kept moving along so the next batch of tourists can cram in. Still, your time inside will be unforgettable.
Don't miss popping into the baptistery alcove (adm), with a font carved by Sansovino, or checking out the presbytery (space behind the main altar) with its Pala d'Oro, a gem-studded golden trophy altar from Constantinople.
The Marciano Museum upstairs
Above the church proper and entered through the atrium is the Marciano Museum (a.k.a. Loggia dei Cavalli, the Loggia of the Horses), which gets you up onto a balcony and affords you a close-up look at some of those mosaics. It also houses the original Triumphal Quadriga of four horses, replicas of which stride across the facade's roof (adm).
San Marco Ground Rules
(1) Dress appropriately—no bare shoulders or knees (i.e. no shorts, short skirts, or tank tops).
(2) Keep silent.
(3) This brings a disappointed groan out of everyone, but positively no photography is permitted. I know. It makes me angry, too.
These life-size bronze equines are one of Venice's treasures. Taken in 1204 from Constantinople during the crusades, their origin is murky, but they're at least ancient (AD 2nd century is the best guess), either Roman or Hellenistic.
Why is it called St. Mark's?
In 828 a group of Venetian merchants were visiting Alexandria. In Alexandria rested the bones of the famous and oh-so-holy St. Mark the Evangelist. So, of course, the merchants decided to steal him.
This was era when acquiring bits of bona fide saints was de rigueur for relic hunters. Most settled for the finger bone of St. Elias, or the shriveled skull of St Catherine, or a fragment of the ulna of St. Luke. The Venetians figured: what would be better to carry home in patriotic triumph than a bit of St. Mark? All of him!
Time to Get Religion
My favorite time to visit St. Mark's? A Sunday at 6:45pm—for mass. Mass? Yep. While the priest drones in singsong Latin at the altar, incense swirling around him from a swaying censor, you can sit in silence for an hour getting a crick in your neck. That's because, only during the evening mass, the 40,000 square feet of glittering mosaics —which appear smoke-stained and shadowy by day—are illuminated to their full glittering glory. Only one rule: Tourists are not allowed, so you must be discreet, arrive on time, stay in your pew, and sit quietly through to the end.
According to legend, the merchants exhumed the Evangelist's remains and smuggled them out of town in a barrel of pickled pig parts, cleverly banking on the fact that Muslim proscription against even touching pork would help them slip through inspections.
The merchants returned home with their prize, and the city promptly set about building an appropriately extravagant church to house the holy remains. The result: St Mark's Basilica (and the adoption of Mark's iconic winged lion as the new symbol of the city—you'll see it everywhere).
The audacity of the Venetians kick started something of a grisly competition between Italy's hyper-competitive maritime capitals to see who could steal the best saint then build a cathedral around his bones. In 1087 Bari, in Apulia, countered by nicking the 4th century Turkish bishop St. Nicola di Myra, a.k.a. St. Nicholas, a.k.a. Santa Claus. In 1206, Amalfi entered the fray by taking home the bones of St. Andrew after the Sack of Constantinople.
Tips
- Planning your day: They'll try to shuffle you through in 20 minutes, but take your time, pop into the side chapels, behind the altar, and up to the Marciano Museum, sit on a pew and just admire the view, and plan to spend at least an hour to 90 minutes.
- Check your bags: Large bags are no longer allowed inside the basilica, and a left luggage office has been established at Ateneo San Basso in Calle San Basso 315A.
- Attend mass: The Sunday 6:45pm mass is the only regular time they illuminate all those mosaics. Awesome. Also, a cultural experience. Only rule: you have to be polite, arrive on time, and stay for the entire mass; no "tourists" allowed. For more, see the box above.
- Free summer tours: The cathedral runs free guided tours in summer, usually around 10:30am Mon-Sat, which include a Biblical reading of some of the mosaics. Check signs posted in the atrium for specifics, or call tel. +39-041-241-3817 (sometimes they will add a tour simply if you call to request one).
- Guided tours: The rest of the year (or for more departure times), you can get a private guided tour of St. Mark's from our partners at Viator.com:
• Skip the Line: Venice Walking Tour with St Mark's Basilica
• Skip the Line: St Mark's Square Highlights Tour
• Skip the Line: Venice in One Day
Related pages
- The Campanile - The cathedral's bell tower (great views)
- Piazza San Marco - Venice's public outdoor living room
- More sights in San Marco district
- Sights in neighboring Castello district
- Sights in neighboring Cannaregio district
- Churches in Venice
- Sightseeing in Venice
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This material was last updated February 2011. All information was accurate at the time.
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