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The construction: the primitive church

(La costruzione: la chiesa primitiva)

(The construction: the primitive church)

The first church dedicated to San Marco, commissioned by Giustiniano Partecipazio, was built next to the Doge's Palace in 828 to house the relics of San Marco stolen, according to tradition, in Alexandria in Egypt by two Venetian merchants: Buono da Malamocco and Rustico da Torcello. This church replaced the previous palatine chapel dedicated to the Byzantine saint Theodore (whose name was pronounced by the Venetians Tòdaro), built in correspondence with the current Piazzetta dei Leoncini, north of the basilica of San Marco. The first Campanile di San Marco also dates back to the 9th century.

The construction: subsequent reconstructions

(La costruzione: le ricostruzioni successive)

(The construction: subsequent reconstructions)

The primitive church of San Marco was soon replaced by a new one, located in the present place and built in 832; this however went up in flames during a revolt in 976 and was then built again in 978 by Pietro I Orseolo. The current basilica dates back to another reconstruction (begun by Doge Domenico Contarini in 1063 and continued by Domenico Selvo and Vitale Falier) which fairly faithfully traced the dimensions and layout of the previous building. In particular, the architectural form as a whole is very close to that of the ancient Basilica of the Holy Apostles of Constantinople (destroyed a few years after the Ottoman conquest), the second most important church in the city and imperial mausoleum. The new consecration took place in 1094; the legend places in the same year the miraculous discovery in a pillar of the basilica of the body of San Marco, which had been hidden during the works in a place that was then forgotten. In 1231 a fire devastated the basilica of San Marco which was immediately restored.

The construction: the decoration

(La costruzione: la decorazione)

(The construction: the decoration)

The golden mosaic decoration of the interior of the basilica was already almost complete at the end of the 12th century. By the first half of the thirteenth century a vestibule (the narthex, often called atrium) was built that surrounded the entire western arm, creating the conditions for the construction of a facade (before then the exterior was with exposed brick, as in the basilica of Murano). The following centuries saw the basilica continually enriched with columns, friezes, marbles, sculptures, gold brought to Venice on merchant ships arriving from the East. Often it was a matter of bare material, ie obtained from ancient demolished buildings. In particular, the spoils of the sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade (1204) enriched the treasury of the basilica and provided furnishings of great prestige.

The construction: the decoration, subsequent interventions

(La costruzione: la decorazione, interventi successivi)

(The construction: the decoration, subsequent interventions)

In 1200, as part of the works that were transforming the appearance of the square, the domes were raised with Byzantine and Fatimid construction techniques: they are wooden constructions covered with lead sheets above the oldest original domes, on which the mosaic covering that can be admired inside the church. Only in the 15th century, with the decoration of the upper part of the facades, was the current external appearance of the basilica defined; despite this, it constitutes a unitary and coherent whole among the various artistic experiences to which it has been subjected over the centuries. Finally, the Baptistery and the Chapel of Sant'Isidoro di Chio (XIV century), the sacristy (XV) and the Zen Chapel (XVI) were built. In 1617, with the arrangement of two altars inside, the basilica can be said to be completed.

The construction: the key figures

(La costruzione: le figure chiave)

(The construction: the key figures)

As a state church, the basilica was governed by the doge and did not depend on the patriarch, who had his chair at the church of San Pietro. The doge himself appointed a ducal clergy led by the primicerium. Only from 1807 did San Marco officially become a cathedral. The administration of the basilica was entrusted to an important magistracy of the Republic of Venice, the Procurators of San Marco, whose headquarters were the Procuratie. All the construction and restoration works were directed by the foreman: great architects such as Jacopo Sansovino and Baldassare Longhena occupied this position. Procurators of San Marco and proto still exist and carry out the same tasks for the Patriarchate as in the past.

Construction: conservation

(La costruzione: la conservazione)

(Construction: conservation)

The restoration work on the Basilica at the end of the 19th century (1865-1875) created a real cultural debate on the state of conservation of the works contained and on the loss of large portions of mosaics inside the Zen Chapel and the Baptistery. Thus it was that from 1881 to 1893 Ferdinando Ongania, one of the most famous Venetian publishers, dedicated himself to the creation of a work called La Basilica di San Marco in Venice, which wanted to record and preserve the beauty of all the decorative elements that make it unique the Basilica so that in the future any restoration work would be confronted with the situation documented in his work.

The exterior: description

(L'esterno: descrizione)

(The exterior: description)

From the outside, divided into three different registers - lower floor, terrace, domes - width prevails, since in a city like Venice, which rests on sandy ground, there was a tendency to build buildings in width, with a more balanced weight. It is in fact 76.5 meters long and 62.60 meters wide (at the transept), while the central dome is 43 meters high (28.15 inside). The façade has two orders, one on the ground floor which is marked by five large splayed portals that lead to the internal atrium. The central one is decorated in a monumental sense. The second order forms a walkable terrace and has four blind arches plus a central one in which opens a loggia that houses the quadriga.

The exterior: the facade

(L'esterno: la facciata)

(The exterior: the facade)

The marble facade dates back to the 13th century. There were inserted mosaics, bas-reliefs and a large amount of heterogeneous material. This gave the characteristic polychromy, which is combined with the complex chiaroscuro effects due to the multiform openings and the play of volumes. The two entrance doors at the ends were made with inflected arched tympanums, of Arab inspiration, perhaps also intended to remember Alexandria in Egypt, where the martyrdom of San Marco had taken place. At the entrance doors Bertuccio worked the goldsmith and Venetian bronze caster.

The outside: the bronze doors

(L'esterno: le porte bronzee)

(The outside: the bronze doors)

The bronze doors date back to different eras: to the south the Porta di San Clemente is Byzantine and dates back to the 11th century; the central one, of uncertain production, dates back to the 12th century; the secondary doors are later and are decorated in an antique style. In ancient times on the side facade facing south opened the Porta da Mar, the entrance located near the Doge's Palace and the pier, from which one entered Venice.

The exterior: the mosaics of the external facade

(L'esterno: i mosaici della facciata esterna)

(The exterior: the mosaics of the external facade)

Among the mosaics on the façade, the only one left of the 13th century originals is the one above the first portal on the left, the portal of Sant'Alipio, which represents the entrance of the body of San Marco into the basilica as it was then. The others, damaged, were rebuilt between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries maintaining the original subjects, which, except for the mosaic above the central portal, all have the body of the saint as their main subject, since his discovery in Alexandria of Egypt by of two Venetian merchants which took place in 829, upon the arrival of the sacred remains in the city and the subsequent deposition.

The outside: the bezel

(L'esterno: la lunetta)

(The outside: the bezel)

The lunette of the central portal is decorated according to the typically Western custom in the Romanesque period, with a Last Judgment, framed by three carved arches of different sizes, which show a series of Prophets, of sacred and civil Virtues, of Allegories of the months, of Crafts and other symbolic scenes with animals and cherubs (about 1215-1245). These reliefs mix oriental suggestions and Lombard Romanesque (such as the works of Wiligelmo), but were made by local workers. From the inflected arches of the upper order, decorated in a flowery Gothic style, the statues of the cardinal and theological virtues, four holy warriors and St. Mark watch over the city. In the arch of the central window, under San Marco, the winged lion shows the book with the words "Pax tibi Marce Evangelista meus".

The exterior: the quadriga

(L'esterno: la quadriga)

(The exterior: the quadriga)

Among the works of art from Constantinople, the most famous is represented by the famous horses of gilded and silvered bronze, of uncertain origin, [7] which were stolen by the Venetians, during the IV crusade from the Hippodrome of Constantinople, the capital of 'Eastern Roman Empire and placed above the central portal of the basilica. Of the many quadrigas that adorned the triumphal arches of antiquity, this is the only one left in the world. After the long restoration begun in 1977, the horses of San Marco are kept in the Museum of San Marco inside the basilica, replaced on the balcony by copies.

The exterior: the Aquitaine pillars

(L'esterno: i pilastri aquitani)

(The exterior: the Aquitaine pillars)

From Piazza San Marco, heading towards the portal of the Doge's Palace, you can see on the left two tall quadrangular pillars called "acritani" richly decorated, not far from the southern facade of the basilica. They flank the access road to the Baptistery and were probably placed in this place around the middle of the 13th century. The pillars are also clearly visible from the shore, as triumphal monuments of the victories of the Republic of Venice in the wars of the east (brought from the east as spoils of war). Their location in the panorama of the Piazzetta, which appears to have no precise function, derives from the actual overabundance of valuable artifacts accumulated by the Venetians during the various wars that saw it involved over the centuries, recognizing their value but no longer having spaces empty inside or on the facade of the basilica they decided to place them where today they can be admired. The name derives from the legend, known centuries after their arrival in Venice, which would like the two pillars to have been brought to Venice, together with the Pietra del Bando, after the fall of Acri in 1258. But from a new study on the sources of contemporary era to the fall of Acre, it appears that neither the Pillars nor the Bando Stone are ever mentioned. References to the belonging of the Pillars after the conquest of Acre are found only in very late historical works, that is to say from the 16th and 17th centuries, that is, an era well after the events. This, until a few years ago, has raised enough doubts and perplexities as to the origin of their provenance, since even from the study of the two pillars it was not possible to find any significant element that would allow identifying a place of origin. In 1960, during the major works for the construction of new urban arteries in Istanbul, in the Sarachane district, large blocks of marble that formed the crowning of niches were brought to light, together with fragments of a monumental inscription that ran along a vault around to the arches of the niches. This led to the recognition in that inscription parts of a dedicatory epigram to the church of San Poliecto. [8] From these excavations, during the first archaeological campaign, a large pillar capital was found, which according to the shape, size and most of the decoration corresponded to those of the Acritan pillars in Venice. Finely worked, they present Sassanian motifs such as winged palmettes, peacocks, grapes, executed with distributive clarity and masterly precision; they represent one of the first evidences of the introduction of oriental decorations in the western artistic panorama.

The exterior: the stone of the ban

(L'esterno: la pietra del bando)

(The exterior: the stone of the ban)

At the corner towards the square is the stone of the ban, a truncated column in porphyry from Syria, from which the commandador of the Republic read the laws and notices to citizenship. The stone was broken from the rubble of the bell tower in 1902

The outside: the tetrarchs

(L'esterno: i tetrarchi)

(The outside: the tetrarchs)

Work datable towards the end of the third century, transferred to Venice after the sacking of Constantinople in 1204. It represents, in a block of red porphyry about 130 cm high, the figures of the "tetrarchs", that is the two caesars and the two august (a caesar and an augustus for each of the parts into which the Roman empire was divided by the emperor Diocletian with his reform). There is still an ongoing debate among art historians as to which of the two tetrarchies the sculpture refers to. A popular legend instead has it that this sculpture is that of four thieves surprised by the Saint of the basilica intent on stealing his treasure kept inside and who were petrified by it and subsequently walled up next to the Porta della Carta by the Venetians, right on the corner of the Treasury.

The outside: the narthex

(L'esterno: il nartece)

(The outside: the narthex)

The narthex with its muted light prepares the visitor for the suffused atmosphere of the gilded interior, like the Old Testament represented by the mosaics of the domes that prepare for the Gospel depicted in the basilica. The main subjects are Genesis and episodes from the lives of Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses. The atrium consists of two rooms, as the Baptistery and the Zen Chapel were obtained by closing the south side. The mosaics of the atrium include, among other things, six small domes: Genesis, Abraham, three small domes of Joseph and Moses. The mosaics of the cupolas "mark" the time of waiting for the coming of Jesus, following the thread that identifies the phases of the history of salvation, after the falls of men, before its fulfillment in Christ, whose life and whose mysteries are celebrated in the interior mosaics of the basilica. [10] In the dome of Abraham the protagonist is depicted four times in conversation with God, represented by a hand coming out of a slice of heaven. In Moses' dome he, saved from the Nile, becomes the savior of his people along the desert and across the Red Sea to the promised land.

The exterior: the narthex, dome of Genesis or Creation

(L'esterno: il nartece, cupola della Genesi o della Creazione)

(The exterior: the narthex, dome of Genesis or Creation)

In the dome of Genesis or Creation there are twenty-six scenes that begin with the creation of heaven and earth. Uncommon is the scene of the blessing of the seventh day "with God enthroned surrounded by the six angels of the first six days. The creation of Eve from Adam's rib, the temptation of the serpent, the expulsion from the Earthly Paradise, and other characteristic episodes follow. The mosaics of the first three chapels were made between 1220 and 1240. After a long interruption of work, due to the use of teams of Venetian mosaicists in the church of San Salvador, the construction site was reopened with the decoration of the last domes around 1260-1270.

The exterior: the narthex, the niches next to the portal

(L'esterno: il nartece, le nicchie accanto al portale)

(The exterior: the narthex, the niches next to the portal)

Next to the portal that leads to the church there are some niches in which mosaics representing the Theotókos, the Apostles and, in the lower register, the Evangelists are housed. These mosaics are part of the first decorative campaign of the church, the one that also includes the mosaic with the four protectors of the city in the apse (San Pietro, San Nicola, San Marco and Sant'Ermagora) and the fragments of the Deposition found on the south tetrapyle. east of the presbytery, all dating back to the last quarter of the 11th century, that is to the period of Doge Domenico Selvo. The figures of the Theotokos and the Apostles seem to belong to a Byzantine atelier, while those of the Evangelists (perhaps a little later) have characters that bring them closer to the style of Venetian craftsmen. The language is similar to the Byzantine one of the province, which has its highest result in the mosaics of the church of the Neà Monì in Chios.

The interior: introduction

(L'interno: introduzione)

(The interior: introduction)

The plan of the basilica is a Latin cross, although at first glance it may seem Greek, with five domes distributed in the center and along the axes of the cross and connected by arches (as in the church of the Holy Apostles of the time of Justinian, an evident model for the Venetian basilica). The naves, three on each arm, are divided by colonnades that flow towards the massive pillars that support the domes; they are not built as a single block of masonry but articulated in turn like the main module: four supports at the top of a square, vaulted connecting sectors and a central part with a small dome.

The interior: the walls

(L'interno: le pareti)

(The interior: the walls)

The external and internal walls, on the other hand, are thin, to lighten the weight of the building on the delicate Venetian soil, and almost seem like diaphragms stretched between pillar and pillar, supporting the balustrade of the women's galleries; they do not have a support function, only a buffer function. Walls and pillars are completely covered, in the lower register, with polychrome marble slabs. The floor has a marble covering designed with geometric modules and animal figures using the opus sectile and opus tessellatum techniques; although continuously restored, it retains some original parts from the 12th century.

The interior: the floors

(L'interno: i pavimenti)

(The interior: the floors)

The floor reflects motifs of classical iconography, common in the upper Adriatic area (wheels, squares, hexagons, octagons, frames decorated with rhombuses, images of symbolic animals of medieval Christianity) with others that are influenced by Byzantine influences (the eight large slabs in Proconnesian marble from the piedicroce and the other twelve in Greek marble under the dome of the Ascension).

The interior: other elements

(L'interno: altri elementi)

(The interior: other elements)

Elements of Western origin are the crypt, which interrupts the repetitiveness of one of the five spatial units, and the location of the altar, not in the center of the structure (as in the Byzantine martyrions), but in the presbytery. For this reason the arms are not identical, but on the east-west axis they have the widest central nave, thus creating a main longitudinal axis that directs the gaze towards the high altar, which houses the remains of San Marco. Behind the main altar, facing the apse, is the Pala d'oro, which is part of the Treasury of San Marco. The group of historiated columns that support the ciborium above the main altar, reproduce early Christian models, with quotations also traced, although perhaps recontextualized or even misunderstood. This specially recreated revival is to be framed in Venice's desire to reconnect with the era of Constantine by assuming the legacy of the Christian Imperii after having conquered Constantinople. The presbytery is separated from the rest of the basilica by an iconostasis, inspired by the Byzantine churches. It is made up of eight columns in red brocatelle marble and crowned by a high Crucifix and statues by Pier Paolo and Jacobello dalle Masegne, a masterpiece of Gothic sculpture (late 14th century). From the presbytery you enter the sacristy and a small 15th century church dedicated to San Teodoro, built by Giorgio Spavento, which houses an Adoration of the Child by Giambattista Tiepolo. Also noteworthy are the pillars close to the portal, on which Sebastiano da Milano sculpted plant motifs.

The interior: right transept

(L'interno: transetto destro)

(The interior: right transept)

At the beginning of the right transept, connected to the Doge's Palace, is the ambo of the relics, from where the newly elected doge showed himself to the Venetians. In the left aisle are the chapel of San Clemente and the altar of the Sacrament. Here is the pillar in which the body of San Marco was found in 1094, as described in the interesting mosaics in the right aisle (from where you enter the rooms of the Treasury of San Marco). In the mosaics of the discovery of the saint's body (13th century), in two scenes, the interior of the basilica is shown and the prayer of invocation and that of thanksgiving of the doge, the patriarch with his clergy, the nobles and the people.

The interior: left transept

(L'interno: transetto sinistro)

(The interior: left transept)

At the beginning of the left transept there is instead the double ambo for reading the Scriptures; followed, in the right aisle, the chapel of San Pietro and the chapel of the Madonna Nicopeia, a Byzantine icon that arrived in Venice after the Fourth Crusade and object of devotion. On the north side there are the entrances to the chapel of Sant'Isidoro di Chio and the Mascoli chapel.

The mosaics: introduction

(I mosaici: introduzione)

(The mosaics: introduction)

The mosaic decoration of the basilica covers a very long period of time and is probably dictated by a coherently unified iconographic program. The oldest mosaics are those of the apse (Christ pantocrator, redone however in the sixteenth century, and figures of saints and apostles) and of the entrance (Apostles and Evangelists, mentioned above), made at the end of the eleventh century by Greek and Venetian artists, and who show affinity to the mosaics, for example, of the Ursiana Cathedral of Ravenna (1112) or to those of the Apostles in the apse of the Cathedral of San Giusto in Trieste. The Apostles with the Theotokos and the Evangelists probably decorated the central entrance to the basilica even before the construction of the narthex. The remaining mosaics of the building were added in the second great decorative campaign starting from the second half of the 12th century, by Byzantine and Venetian artists.

The mosaics: gold and inscriptions

(I mosaici: l'oro e le iscrizioni)

(The mosaics: gold and inscriptions)

All the mosaic scenes, immersed in gold which, according to the oriental tradition is a symbol of divine light, are completed by inscriptions in Latin: biblical passages, duly transcribed or taken up in summary form from the Vulgate of St. Jerome, or beautiful prayers and invocations in medieval poetic form. The various mosaic scenes have explanations in Leonine verse. [23] These inscriptions are also present in the atrium.

The mosaics: opus tesselatum and opus sectile

(I mosaici: opus tesselatum e opus sectile)

(The mosaics: opus tesselatum and opus sectile)

The marvelous 12th century polychrome mosaics that cover the floor of the Basilica present two different techniques: the opus tessellatum, which uses tesserae of different sizes but cut regularly, and the opus sectile, an assembly of tiny irregular fragments of different stones, used especially for geometric and zoomorphic motifs.

The mosaics: the mosaics of the atrium

(I mosaici: i mosaici dell'atrio)

(The mosaics: the mosaics of the atrium)

The atrium presents Stories of the Old Testament, the three domes on the longitudinal axis divine and Christological apotheosis, the relative arches present episodes from the Gospels, the lateral domes stories of saints. The Pentecost Dome (the first to the west) was built by the end of the 12th century, perhaps reproducing the Byzantine miniatures of a Byzantine court manuscript. The central dome is called of the Ascension, while the one above the main altar of Emmanuel, and they were decorated after that of Pentecost. Later he devoted himself to the historiation of the Genesis Dome of the atrium (c. 1220-1240), faithfully following the illustrations of the Cotton Bible (another early Christian revival). [11] The stories of the ancient patriarchs unfold on the successive vaults and domes: Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses. This small dome of Genesis is geometrically articulated in three concentric circular bands around a golden flake decoration in the center. The story is divided into twenty-six scenes above which runs the biblical text in Latin which begins with the words: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The Spirit of God hovered over the waters". The days of creation follow in succession, in each of which the figure of God the creator is present, identified - according to Eastern iconography - in the young Christ with the crusader halo and the processional cross, the living Word of the Father, and with him, until from the origin, creator of the universe, as we read at the beginning of the Gospel of John.

The mosaics: the mosaics of the north transept

(I mosaici: i mosaici del transetto nord)

(The mosaics: the mosaics of the north transept)

The north transept, built later, has a dome dedicated to San Giovanni Evangelista and Stories of the Virgin in the arches. The south one has the dome of San Leonardo (with other saints) and, above the right aisle, Facts from the life of San Marco. In these works and in the contemporary ones of the tribune the Venetian artists introduced more and more Western elements, derived from Romanesque and Gothic art.Later are the mosaics of the small domes of Joseph and Moses, on the north side of the atrium, probably from the second half of the XIII century, where grandiose effects are sought with a reduction of the architectural scenographies in function of the narration. Other notable mosaics decorate the Baptistery, the Mascoli Chapel and the Chapel of Sant'Isidoro.

The mosaics: the mosaics of the Zen Chapel

(I mosaici: i mosaici della Cappella Zen)

(The mosaics: the mosaics of the Zen Chapel)

The last mosaic decorations are those of the Zen Chapel (south corner of the atrium), where a very skilled Greek master would have worked again.

The mosaics: the authors of the cartoons

(I mosaici: gli autori dei cartoni)

(The mosaics: the authors of the cartoons)

Many deteriorated mosaics were later rebuilt keeping the original subjects. Some of the cartoons were made by Michele Giambono, Paolo Uccello, Andrea del Castagno, Paolo Veronese, Jacopo Tintoretto and his son Domenico (these of the two Robusti often made by Lorenzo Ceccato) Titian and Padovanino instead prepared the cartoons for the mosaics of the sacristy .

The mosaics: the masters and the origin

(I mosaici: i maestri e la provenienza)

(The mosaics: the masters and the origin)

The mosaics of the twelfth century are of Greek origin and are the work of artists who, for convenience of reference, can be called master of Emmanuel, master of the Ascension, master of Pentecost, flanked by many aids. The dome of Emmanuel, the apsidal hemicycle, the side chapels with Marcian, Petrian and Clementine stories and the miracles of Christ in the transepts are attributed to the first. On the second, the stories of the Passion and the Ascension, the lateral domes and the martyrdom of the Apostles on the southern vault and lunette of the basilica's cross pylon, on the third finally the Pentecost dome and probably the two western vaults, redecorated in the Renaissance with the Apocalypse of John and Paradise. After the thirteenth century a translation of the artistic mosaic language takes place, passing "from Greek to Latin", by artists such as Paolo Veneziano. This translation is deepened in the cycle of the chapel of S. Isidoro and is completed both by Paolo Uccello and in the Mascoli chapel, towards the middle of the fifteenth century, where the presence of Andrea del Castagno is recorded.

The mosaics: mosaics of the interior

(I mosaici: mosaici dell'interno)

(The mosaics: mosaics of the interior)

The mosaics of the interior, mostly from the 12th century, are inspired by the principles of Byzantine art. The central nucleus, narrating the history of Christian salvation, ranges from the Messianic prophecies to the second coming (parousia) of Christ the judge at the end of the world and has its focal points in the three large domes of the main nave: the dome of the Presbytery, of the Ascension and of Pentecost. Its reading must be done from the presbytery towards the facade, from east to west, following the course of the sun, to which Christ is symbolically associated, who is the perpetual sun for men.

The mosaics: the interior - the dome of the Presbytery

(I mosaici: l'interno - la cupola del Presbiterio)

(The mosaics: the interior - the dome of the Presbytery)

In the dome of the Presbytery we find the prophets who, around Mary, announce the texts of their prophecies. Near Mary, in a prayerful attitude and in a central position, Isaiah, pointing to the beardless young man at the center of the dome, pronounces the words: "Behold, the Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son who will be called Emmanuel, God with us" (7:14 ); and David, progenitor of the royal lineage of Israel, wearing the sumptuous robes of the emperor of Byzantium, proclaims the kingship of the child who will be born of her "The fruit of your womb I will place on my throne" (Psalm 132, 11). The same iconographic theme returns on the walls of the central nave: ten mosaic paintings, magnificent works of the thirteenth century (the pinakes), present, on the right wall, the Virgin, on the left, Christ Emmanuel, respectively surrounded by four prophets. The fulfillment of the prophecies begins in the scenes depicting the announcement of the angel to Mary and follows with the adoration of the Magi, the presentation in the temple, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River on the vault above the iconostasis (mosaics redone on cartoons by Jacopo Tintoretto).

The mosaics: the interior - the two transepts

(I mosaici: l'interno - i due transetti)

(The mosaics: the interior - the two transepts)

In the two transepts, on the walls and vaults, the acts of Jesus are translated into numerous images to comfort the sick, the suffering and sinners.

The mosaics: the interior - the south and west vaults

(I mosaici: l'interno - le volte sud e ovest)

(The mosaics: the interior - the south and west vaults)

On the south and west vaults under the central dome the conclusive facts of the life of Jesus are gathered: the entrance into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the washing of the feet, the kiss of Judas and the condemnation of Pilate.

The mosaics: the interior - the Oratory of the Garden

(I mosaici: l'interno - l'Oratorio dell'Orto)

(The mosaics: the interior - the Oratory of the Garden)

The large panel of the Oration in the garden dates from the 13th century. At the center of the basilica are the scenes of the Crucifixion and the Descent into Hell (anastasis, in Greek) with the great image of Christ victorious over death, as well as the depiction of the Resurrection. In the dome of the Ascension in the starry circle in the center is Christ, seated on a rainbow, carried upwards by four flying angels. Below, among splendid trees representing the earthly world, stand the twelve Apostles with the Virgin and two angels. Among the windows, sixteen female figures, dancing, are the personification of virtues and beatitudes: among the many present, we remember faith, justice, patience, mercy and charity crowned in royal robes with the inscription in Latin " mother of all virtues "

The mosaics: the interior - the Pentecost dome

(I mosaici: l'interno - la cupola della Pentecoste)

(The mosaics: the interior - the Pentecost dome)

The third dome is that of Pentecost where the Holy Spirit, in the center with the etymasia, in the symbol of the dove descends in the form of tongues of fire on the apostles. At the base, between the windows, groups of peoples are represented who listened to the Christian message, each in their own language. At the top of the dome, in the center of a halo made up of concentric circles, the symbols of the throne, the book and the dove allude to the Father seated on the throne of heaven, to the Word whose word is condensed in the book of the Gospel, to the Holy Spirit who inaugurates the new phase of human history evoked with the image of the dove which, carrying the olive branch, had announced the end of the flood and a future of life and peace.

The mosaics: the interior - the internal counter-façade

(I mosaici: l'interno - la controfacciata interna)

(The mosaics: the interior - the internal counter-façade)

On the internal façade there is the Byzantine iconographic motif of the Deesis (Intercession) in which Saint Mark replaces the traditional Saint John the Baptist. In the right aisle of the presbytery a Byzantine mosaic from the 12th century represents the stealing of the body of St. Mark from Alexandria in Egypt to Venice. The Venetians Tribuno and Rustico are represented, assisted by their Alexandrian accomplices, who place the saint's body in a box; the transport of this to the cry kanzir ("pork meat" in Arabic); the disgust of the Muslim customs officers for the unclean goods, the shipping that leaves Alexandria; the storm at sea near the estuary; the festive welcome in Venice. Pantocrator in the presbytery stands at the center of a jeweled throne, with his right hand raised as a sign of blessing and his left hand holding the open Book, adorned with precious stones that symbolize the extraordinary spiritual and eschatological value of his announcement. the beginning of his own Gospel. Below is the Virgin Mary, praying, and on her sides two donors: the doge Ordelaffo Falier and the Byzantine empress Irene of Athens.

Museo Internazionale©

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THE BUILDING

The building - the construction

THE OUTSIDE

The building: the outside

THE INTERIOR

The building: the interior

MOSAICS

The mosaics

What to do around here

Where to eat