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Basilica di San Marco
Creating Venice's architectural wonder took nearly
800 years and one saintly barrel of lard. In AD 828,
wily Venetian merchants allegedly smuggled St
Mark's corpse out of Egypt in a barrel of pork fat to
avoid inspection by Muslim customs authorities.
Venice built a golden basilica around its stolen saint,
whose bones were misplaced twice during construc-
tion.
St Mark's Basilica
Map
H3
Piazza San Marco
admission free
9.45am-5pm Mon-Sat,
2-5pm Sun, to 4pm winter
San Marco
