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10 Mind-Blowing Facts About Venice’s Opulent Saint Mark’s Basilica

Asia London Palomba | PUBLISHED: July 6, 2023

Asia London Palomba
July 5, 2023

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Venice is one of Italy’s most evocative cities, and how could it not be? The city is literally built on hundreds of islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has been floating for centuries, and its grandiose canals are lined with stunning Renaissance and Gothic palazzos and connected by a smattering of large and small stone and marble bridges. 

One of the city's most popular attractions is Saint Mark’s Basilica, an opulent cathedral located at the heart of Saint Mark’s Square. It’s overlooked by the iconic Saint Mark’s bell tower and flanked by the stunning Doge’s Palace. Located within a few steps of the lagoon’s seafoam-colored waves peppered with clusters of jet-black gondolas, it has been at the center of Venice’s religious and public life for centuries. 

Here are 10 mind-blowing facts on one of Italy’s most recognizable basilicas. 

  • The original basilica was built inside the Doge’s Palace complex in the 9th century and was commissioned by Doge Giustiniano Participazio. Participazio stipulated in his will that widow and younger brother and successor Giovanni would build a church dedicated to housing the relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist.
  • Saint Mark’s relics were smuggled into Venice from Alexandria, Egypt by Venetian merchants in 828. Saint Mark founded an episcopal see in Alexandria, one of the five most important sees of early Christianity.
  • The original structure burned down in 928 during a revolt, and the current structure was consecrated in 1071.
  • The exterior structure is made from white marble brought in from the Middle East.
  • The Basilica’s five interior domes are completely covered in about 43,000 sq. feet of gold Byzantine mosaics, which earned the structure the title of “Church of God.” That’s roughly enough mosaics to cover nearly two American football fields.
  • The mosaics were done over the course of eight centuries.
  • There are more than 500 columns and capitals inside the basilica, most of which are  Byzantine, that date between the 6th and 11th centuries.
  • The Basilica is filled with treasures, many of which were gained during the Crusades and the conquest of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) in 1204.
  • Until 1807, it served as the chapel of the Doge’s Palace. It officially became a cathedral in 1807.
  • St. Mark’s bell tower was also constructed in the 9th century. It was rebuilt in 1903 after it collapsed in 1902.

Asia London Palomba

Asia London Palomba is a trilingual freelance journalist from Rome, Italy. In the past, her work on culture, travel, and history has been published in The Boston Globe, Atlas Obscura, The Christian Science Monitor, and Grub Street, New York Magazine's food section. In her free time, Asia enjoys traveling home to Italy to spend time with family and friends, drinking Hugo Spritzes, and making her nonna's homemade cavatelli.

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Asia London Palomba

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