Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PLANNING YOUR VISIT
The grandest entrances to the basilica are with a crowd, its polyglot expressions of wonder making a hive-like
hum under honey-gold domes. Luckily, the queue moves quickly - waits are rarely more than 15 minutes, even
when the queue extends past the Palazzo Ducale's door. Book 'Skip the Line' access online April to October
(
www.venetoinside.com
; €1 booking fee) to bypass queues and head directly into the central portal. Arrive at odd
times to avoid tour groups, which tend to arrive on the hour or half-hour. Free guided tours from the diocese ex-
plaining the theological messages in the mosaics also enter through the central portal (
ht-
tp://www.basilicasanmarco.it
;
tours 11am Monday to Saturday April to October, by prior reservation).
Attending evening vespers allows you to enter the basilica after hours, minus tour groups. Worshippers
come in through a side door and are expected to sit quietly for the duration of services; visits beyond the
side chapel are not allowed.
Pala d'Oro
GOOGLE MAP
( admission €2; 9.45am-5pm Mon-Sat, 2-4.30pm Sun, to 4pm winter)
, studded with
2000 emeralds, amethysts, sapphires, rubies, pearls and other gemstones. But the most
priceless treasures here are biblical figures in vibrant cloisonné, begun in Constantinople
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 - an understandable reaction to such a cap-
tivating scene. Look closely to spot touches of Venetian whimsy: falcon-hunting scenes in
medallions along the bottom, and the by-now-familiar scene of St Mark's body smuggled
out of Egypt on the right.
