A not-so-negligible privilege that allows for a more comfortable visit and frees up time for visiting the city.
A mystical and fascinating place, the St Mark’s Basilica intertwines history and religion, Eastern and Western worlds, arts and lavishness in an unstoppable succession of emotions that through your eyes deeply touch your soul.
One cannot avoid, when visiting the Venice cathedral, gazing at the vast amount of decorations, mosaics, architectonic structures, precious objects and sacred and allegorical images that adorn the church inside and outside – to face all this in the best way, before delving into the details, it is important to let oneself be swept away by this abundance, which changes time after time depending on the lighting, one’s stance and many other details that all together turn St Mark’s Basilica into a constantly new and profound experience.
The Basilica’s Byzantine character emerges from several elements, the main one being the mosaic that narrates the life of St Mark and episodes from the Old and New Testament.
Inside the Basilica there is an evocative and soft darkness contrasted by the glaring light of the golden mosaics and jewels – a stark effect that gives the church a fascinating and mysterious aura.
Visiting St Mark’s Basilica signifies entering into an intricate world imbued with religion, art and sacred images that narrate in detail the history of Venice: the beauty of this place is nonetheless blindingly evident and one does not need to decipher it in order to appreciate it.
With InsideTelebooking it is now possible to avoid queuing at the main entrance and choose the time of your visit to the cathedral. Our booking service costs 1,00€ (one) and requests can be made up to 10 minutes before the desired time. We would like to remind you that the booking entrance system is available every year from 1st April to 31st October
With it majestic façade surmounted by five spires, this religious monument is based on a Greek cross and was the third one built next to the Palazzo Ducale and dedicated to St Mark with the purpose of housing the mortal remains of the saint after they were purloined from Alexandria of Egypt. Starting from the year 828 it was rebuilt several times, highlighted through a succession of ever increasingly elaborate renovations, the events that made the Republic of Serenissima great. There are numerous extremely valuable artefacts that have been brought here by the people of Venice from far a field as a tribute to the city’ patrons, contributing to the development of a unique majestic, enigmatic and awesome masterpiece. Until 1807 St Mark’s Basilica acted as the private chapel of the doge and later became the Venice Cathedral in place of the ancient church of San Pietro a Castello.