---
node: spot_venice_st_mark_s_basilica
type: spot
slug: st_mark_s_basilica
destination: dest_venice
title: "St Mark's Basilica"
lead: "St Mark's is a Byzantine church on an Italian square, built from 1063 to hold the body of the evangelist and faced over centuries with marble and sculpture brought back from the east. Its interior carries eight thousand square metres of gold mosaic."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_venice_st_mark_s_basilica.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Venezia_-_Basilica_di_San_Marco_-_Con_Alta_Marea.jpg"
image_author: "Gerolamondo"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

## Overview

Venetian merchants stole the relics of Mark from Alexandria in 828 and the city built to match the claim: five domes on the Greek-cross plan of Constantinople, and a facade that is largely spoils — the four bronze horses over the door came from the hippodrome of Constantinople in 1204 and are now copies, the originals inside. The floor is a mosaic of the eleventh century and undulates where the ground beneath has settled. High water floods the narthex a few dozen times a year.

## Highlights

The Pala d'Oro behind the altar, the museum upstairs with the original horses, and the loggia over the square each need a small extra ticket and all three are worth it. Go at opening or book a slot; the queue crosses the piazza by mid-morning. Shoulders and knees must be covered and large bags are refused at the door.