Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The roped-off circuit of the church interior is free and takes about 15 minutes. Silence
is requested. For entry, dress modestly (ie knees and shoulders covered) and leave large
bags around the corner at Ateneo di San Basso's free one-hour baggage storage.
Tucked behind the main altar containing St Mark's sarcophagus is the Pala d'Oro, stud-
ded with 2000 emeralds, amethysts, sapphires, rubies, pearls and other gemstones. But the
most priceless treasures here are biblical figures in vibrant cloisonné, begun in Con-
stantinople in AD 976 and elaborated by Venetian goldsmiths in 1209. The enamelled
saints have wild, unkempt beards and wide eyes fixed on Jesus, who glances sideways at a
studious St Mark as Mary throws up her hands in wonder.
San Marco remained the doge's chapel until 1807, and the ducal treasures upstairs in
the
Museo
put a king's ransom to shame. Gilt bronze horses taken by Venice from Con-
stantinople were stolen in turn by Napoleon but were eventually returned to the basilica
and installed in the 1st-floor gallery. Portals lead from the gallery on to the
Loggia dei
Cavalli
, where reproductions of horses gallop off the balcony over Piazza San Marco. Hid-
den over the altar is the
doge's banquet hall
, where dignitaries wined and dined among lithe
stucco figures of Music, Poetry and Peace.
Holy bones and booty from the Crusades fill the
Tesoro
, including a 10th-century rock-
crystal ewer with winged feet made for Fatimid Caliph al-'Aziz-bi-llah. Velvet- padded
boxes preserve doges' remains alongside alleged saints' relics, including St Roch's femur,
St Mark's thumb, the arm St George used to slay the dragon and even a lock of the
Madonna's hair.
SPEEDY ENTRY TO THE BASILICA DI SAN MARCO
The grandest entrances to the Basilica di San Marco are with a crowd. Luckily, the queue moves
quickly - the wait to enter is rarely over 15 minutes, even when the queue extends past the door to
Palazzo Ducale. But to abbreviate your wait, consider these tips:
»
Booking your visit
online
(
www.venetoinside.com;
booking fee €1) allows you to skip the queues
and head directly into the central portal.
»
Tour groups tend to arrive on the hour or half-hour, so arrivals at odd times usually mean shorter
waits.
»
The diocese offers
free guided tours
( 11am Mon-Sat Apr-Oct by reservation) explaining the
theological messages in the mosaics, with expedited entry through the central portal.
Palazzo Ducale
MUSEUM
