Most of Venice’s eccentricities result from its place as a major trading port between East and West. Italy was not really unified as a country until 1861, and Venice was not part of the country until 1866. Until that time, Venice (like Lombardy, Florence and Sicily) operated as independent kingdoms. Venice was ruled by the Doge, and San Marco was the Doge’s private "chapel" until 1807.

Some of you may notice that San Marco is, well, a little fancier than Notre Dame. Each of these columns across the front is colored marble. Underneath each of the arches is a gold mosaic. In 1075, they passed a law that every trade ship returning to Venice had to bring a gift to San Marco. They have a gold altar piece that has over 250 scenes – all carved in gold and embellished with precious stones. (Napoleon helped himself to these stones – removing 2,000 of them. Just has he helped himself to the San Marco horses to put on the Arc de Triumphe– but those were returned.) The basilica itself resembles a giant jewelry box. Even the floor covered with a variety of elaborate marble mosaics.

Another big difference between the eastern medieval churches (you will see these all over Italy and Greece) and the western churches in France is their shape. The western churches like Notre Dame are shaped like a Latin Cross (the nave much longer than the transcepts – like a crucifix), whereas San Marco and the eastern churches are shaped like a Greek cross (both "arms" the same length).

The crossing and each of the four short aisles are crowned by a dome – rather than the tall arches we see in Gothic churches.

The original San Marco was built in the 9^th century to house St. Mark’s body. St. Mark had visited Venice, and had a vision that he would be buried here. St. Theodore was the original patron saint of Venice, but as the city gained in wealth and reputation, they wanted a more important patron. St. Mark’s body was held in Alexandria, but was smuggled out by a couple of wily Venetian merchants by hiding it under a bunch of pork – and smuggling it past the Muslim guards.

This mosaic on the front of San Marco shows the "pork basket" with the saint’s body, and the Muslims turning in away in disgust (the man in blue is actually holding his nose).

There are many stories about St. Mark and his body. The original San Marco burnt down in 976, and St. Mark’s body was lost in the fire. It miraculously reappeared in 1094, in a small chapel after the church was rebuilt. The winged lion is St. Mark’s symbol, and has become to symbol of Venice, too. Usually he is shown with his back feet in the water – symbolizing Venice’s tie to the sea.

Although pushed out of his lead role, St. Theodore is not completely forgotten. He stands on a slain dragon on top of one of the two columns between San Marco and the lagoon. The lion of St. Mark stands on the other.

I have always felt a little sad for St. Theodore, but never more so than when we stumbled upon the "real" statue -- stuck away in a covered courtyard of the Doge’s Palace.

The head and torso of this statue are recycled from ancient Roman warriors. A Venetian sculptor made the legs and dragon (affectionately referred to as "Theodore’s crocodile."). He is held together by metal rivets, and when he threatened to fall apart on the tourists, he was bundled away here, and replaced by a copy.

So many things in Venice are "reproductions," that you start to get a feeling that the city is like Colonial Williamsburg – what you see is sort of old (100 years or so) but is only a reproduction of what was really old! (ed. note: I wanted to see people pretending to be prisoners in the Doge’s prison cells, but there were none. djp)

This is also true of the San Marco gold mosaics, and even the famous bronze horses standing above the main door (those horsenapped by Napoleon).

The horses are Greek bronzes and are 2,000 years old (it is rare for Greek bronzes to survive – most were melted down for their metal, and all we see are the marble Roman copies). They were covered in gold leaf, and have been stuck inside to prevent further damage. There is something almost alive about the originals. The copies are sturdy, but clunky looking.

I love this place, but I am having trouble thinking of it as a "city." A city to me implies something that is organic and changes with the times. Something seems odd to me about replacing what was there with copies – just so the tourists can see "life like the Doges led." I believe art should be preserved, but "old" doesn’t always mean "good."

The tallest campanile (bell tower) is the one next to San Marco. It collapsed in a heap of rubble in 1902.

The main thing it has to recommend it is that it is "big". There is nothing very gracious about it’s design, and in fact several people lobbied to have the design changed when it was rebuilt. They lost.

We took the elevator to the top, and enjoyed the views. There are four giant bells – about six feet tall, with equally long clappers. They were hanging just within Dan’s reach, and (as you may have noticed from these Web pages) he cannot resist touching anything. We were up there just before noon, and he alternated between threatening to swing the clapper, and trying to convince two girls that they better hurry and leave the tower before the noon chimes. I think he really scared them. But…we were in line for the elevator, and just missed the last one before noon. Dan was standing right under the bell when it started swaying – and the noon chimes gonged right over our heads!! So much for making up stories.

Dan always enjoys a bit of creative history, and gets hurt when people don’t believe his stories. He also likes to tell them loudly in crowds of tourists, hoping they will begin to repeat them. We were on the Rialto Bridge watching the sunset over the Grand Canal when he made the pronouncement that we were on the Bridge of Sighs. A tourist’s head snapped around about to correct him, but Dan continued with his story. "Know why they call it that? Because the harvesters used to come down from the field to sharpen their equipments. The Bridge of Scythes."

You never know whether to laugh or challenge him.

RETURN TO GRAND TOUR HOMEPAGE!!!