Saint Mark's Basilica

ENG

title	Saint Mark's Basilica
category	church
description
One of the main symbols of Venice, fulcrum of the religious and public life of the city, the Basilica di San Marco was founded in the IX century, to preserve the body of the Evangelist Mark, the patron of the city, stolen from Alexandria in 828. It is a superb example of Byzantine-Romanesque style and it reflects the various stages of construction, from the Roman-Byzantine elements of the sixteenth-century to the Gothic interventions. Restructured on several occasions, it took the typical profile of a Byzantine church, with a large central dome and other hemispherical domes. The facade, which opens on five portals, is decorated with precious marble and mosaics. The impressive interior is typically Byzantine: a Greek cross, three aisles, divided by colonnades and powerful arches which support the five domes covered with mosaics. The high altar, which contains the body of S. Marco, is supported by four columns made of alabaster from the XII century. The bell tower, next to the Basilica, was a time a beacon to mariners.
link	Chorus Venezia