St. Mark's Basilica

St Mark's Basilica, the Basilica di San Marco, stands at the eastern end of Piazza San Marco in Venice, next to the Doge's Palace. It was the doge's private chapel for centuries and became the cathedral of Venice only in 1807.

The first church was built in the 9th century to hold relics of St Mark the Evangelist, which, according to tradition, two Venetian merchants took from Alexandria in 828. After a fire in 976, the present building was begun around 1063 and consecrated in 1094. Its cruciform plan with five domes was modelled on the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. Over the following centuries Venice added marble facing, columns and treasures, many taken from Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade in 1204, including the four bronze horses.

The interior is covered with gold-ground mosaics added over about eight centuries, the earliest from the 11th to 13th centuries, showing scenes from the Bible and the life of St Mark. Behind the high altar is the Pala d'Oro, a Byzantine altarpiece of enamels on gilded silver, ordered from Constantinople in 1102 and set with almost 2,000 gems by most counts. The Treasury holds Byzantine metalwork, and the museum inside the basilica displays the original bronze horses, with copies on the balcony over the central portal. The basilica is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Venice and its Lagoon.

Entry to the main church is by ticket, booked online with a time slot through the basilica's official ticket site, which also lists current prices and discounts. The Pala d'Oro, Treasury, museum and loggia have additional fees. Shoulders and knees must be covered, and large bags are not allowed inside.

The plan was adapted from its Byzantine model. The Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople was centrally planned, with the altar under the main dome. Venice needed a long processional route for state ceremonies, so the central and western domes were made larger and a series of narrowing arches draws the eye down the nave to the raised chancel. Each dome rests on four barrel vaults, and dropping the upper arcades of the Byzantine original gives the aisles a more open feel.

The chancel shows how closely church and state were tied. A Gothic altar screen dated 1394 carries a bronze and silver crucifix with statues of the Virgin, St Mark and the Twelve Apostles. To its right is the platform where each newly elected doge was presented to the people. After a reorganisation under Doge Andrea Gritti in the 1520s and 1530s, the choir behind it was used by the doge, civic leaders and foreign ambassadors. The chapel of St Clement had a door to the Doge's Palace courtyard and a window from his private rooms so he could follow mass.

The tribunes beside the chancel are faced with bronze reliefs of St Mark's life and miracles.