Piazza San Marco Venice

Also known as Piazza San Marco

Piazza San Marco is where Venice concentrated its power into architecture. The Basilica di San Marco, begun in the 9th century and rebuilt after a fire in 976, holds the stolen relics of St. Mark brought from Alexandria in 828 and is sheathed in Byzantine mosaics and looted column capitals that document eight centuries of Venetian trade and plunder.

Piazza San Marco is where the Venetian Republic concentrated its power for a thousand years. The Basilica di San Marco holds the stolen relics of St. Mark (brought from Alexandria in 828), Byzantine mosaics spanning centuries, and the four bronze horses looted from Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. The adjacent Doge’s Palace held the government and the prison. The Campanile gives the best aerial view of the city. Basilica free; Doge’s Palace EUR 25; Campanile EUR 10. Vaporetto lines 1 and 2 to San Marco. Book the Doge’s Palace in advance in peak season.