The San Marco Basilica has the form of a Greek cross, is covered by five large domes and other smaller dome-shaped domes and is characterized by a facade covered with precious oriental marbles, Romanesque bas-reliefs and a Gothic crowning.
We can say that it is the third church to be erected in this place: the first was built in 829 to preserve the remains of St. Mark stolen in Alexandria of Egypt by two sailors the previous year, Buono da Malamocco and Rustico da Torcello.
At the end of the works, under the staves of Giovanni Partecipazio in 832, the Basilica was consecrated with a solemn declaration to San Marco as patron and protector of the city, in place of San Teodoro. It was completely destroyed by a fire in 976, during a rebellion against the doge Pietro Candiano IV, and rebuilt on the remains of the previous structure.
A few years later, in 1063 it was demolished again, this time under the dogato of Domenico Contarin, to make way for a more spectacular building more suited to the growing power of the Republic of Venice, taking the buildings of Constantinople and the Church of the Twelve as models.
Apostles of Saint Sophia. According to a legend, in the days of the consecration, in 1094, the body of the saint was miraculously found in a column, hidden during the work and then forgotten.
The best way to visit the San Marco Basilica is to attend mass. The internal and external surfaces of the basilica are covered by approximately 8000 square meters of mosaics, which range from the Byzantine era to the Renaissance. The bright color of the tiles is not only a golden effect, they are real gold leaves applied on an infinite number of glass tiles.
Against this shimmering background, 181 figures press among saints, prophets, virtues and numerous characters from the Bible, made over the course of eight centuries of work.
On the main altar there is an esteemed Pala d'Oro, decorated with more than eighty enamels and hundreds of precious stones, which should date back to the tenth century, once only exhibited on the occasion of major religious holidays.
On the upper floor we find one of the symbols of the city, probably of Greek origin and datable to the fourth or third century BC, the Four Bronze Horses, elegantly overlooking San Marco Square. It is believed that they were probably transported from Constantinople following the victory of Constantine in the West, taken by the Venetians during the IV crusade in 1204.
Furthermore, it is precisely here that the doge was presented to the city after the election, it is here that leaders were received of state, popes, princes and ambassadors, it is here that the captains of the ships came to invoke protection before embarking on epic voyages.
