Sestiere San Marco (Percorso A)
Sestiere San Marco (Percorso A)
description of the itinerary
Il sestiere di San Marco comprende il nucleo originario di Venezia: Piazza San Marco, Basilica di San Marco, Palazzo Ducale e l’area marciana ( Procuratie, Biblioteca nazionale e Museo Correr). L’itinerario parte da Piazza San Marco sulla quale si affacciano molti pregevoli monumenti.
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Piazza San Marco view hide
One of the most famous and beautiful squares in the world, Piazza San Marco is at the heart of the historic city of Venice, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. St Mark's Square is called a piazza and not a campo to distinguish it from the other city's squares and to emphasis its singular beauty. The square was paved in herringbone-pattern bricks: this was in fact the original paving style that used to line the streets and squares of Venice. The present-day paving stones date from 1723. Enclosed on three sides by the arcaded buildings of the Procurators, it was once a remarkable showcase for feasts, ceremonies, tournaments and fairs.
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Marciano Museum view hide
Part of the Basilica San Marco complex, the Marciano Museum contains the original copy of the large bronze horses that used to be displayed outside on the façade of the Basilica. There is a gallery that provides a spectacular view into the basilica, and also a balcony that overlooks the square, where many important public figures have watched ceremonies over the years. Also on show are manuscripts, fragments of very ancient mosaics and also some antique tapestries. The four famous horses of S. Marco, in gilded bronze are from Constantinople
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Doge's Palace view hide
For more than a thousand years, the Doge’s Palace has been the heart and symbol of the political life and public administration within the Venetian Republic. Therefore, when that Republic fell in 1797, its role inevitably changed. Though it is not certain what the old palace looked like, it is probable that it was an aggregation of different buildings destined to serve various purposes, protected by a canal, solid walls and massive corner towers. The buildings within these walls have housed public offices, courtrooms, prisons, the Doge’s apartments, stables, armouries and other necessary facilities. Over this period the Palace was occupied by various administrative offices as well as housing the Biblioteca Marciana and other important cultural institutions within the city. In 1923 the Italian State, the owner of the building, appointed the Venice City Council to manage it as a museum open to the public. Since 1996 the Doge’s Palace has been part of the network of museums that comes under the management of the Venice Museum Authority.
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Saint Mark's Basilica view hide
One of the main symbols of Venice, fulcrum of the religious and public life of the city, the Basilica di San Marco was founded in the IX century, to preserve the body of the Evangelist Mark, the patron of the city, stolen from Alexandria in 828. It is a superb example of Byzantine-Romanesque style and it reflects the various stages of construction, from the Roman-Byzantine elements of the sixteenth-century to the Gothic interventions. Restructured on several occasions, it took the typical profile of a Byzantine church, with a large central dome and other hemispherical domes. The facade, which opens on five portals, is decorated with precious marble and mosaics. The impressive interior is typically Byzantine: a Greek cross, three aisles, divided by colonnades and powerful arches which support the five domes covered with mosaics. The high altar, which contains the body of S. Marco, is supported by four columns made of alabaster from the XII century. The bell tower, next to the Basilica, was a time a beacon to mariners.
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Correr Museum view hide
The museum includes the historic section documenting, with a rich collection of relics, the events of the Serenissima Republic, the section on arts and crafts. The art gallery is set up upstairs, which houses works of Venetian painting of the '400 and '200, canvases from the beginning of '500. The same building hosts the Museo del Risorgimento (currently closed for redevelopment), which preserves paintings, documents and relics related to the city's history since the end of the '700 - the annexation period of Venice to the Kingdom of Italy.
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