The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and St. Mark's Basilica in Venice

When you visit St. Mark's Basilica there are many secrets to be discovered! For example, as soon as you walk through the central entrance of the church, you can see in the marble floor a small white lozenge within in a large red marble with a Latin inscription:

ALEX P.P.III      FRID.I.IMP.

XXIIII VII MCLXXVII.

What is it?

According to tradition, this would be the place where, on 24 July 1177, the German emperor Frederick I (known as Barbarossa) knelt in front of the Pope Alexander III, as a sign of submission after a long war that had seen the Rome pope allied with the municipalities of northern Italy against the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

It is said that Barbarossa, to diminish his defeat, told the pope 'I do not kneel before Pope Alexander but Peter's successor ' and he would instead have responded to him: 'I am Peter', digging the heel of the shoe in the neck of his enemy.

The entrance to St Mark's Basilica is always free. From April to October the time to access could be very long due to the large turnout ... If you do not want to waste time in the queue, we recommend you to book online the skip-the-line access: you can choose the access time that you prefer and gain precious time to dedicate to visit other famous places in Venice!