From the piazza we’ll head into a special entrance of the basilica accessible only to visitors joining a special night tour of St. Mark’s. It goes without saying that we won’t have to wait in line. As it is after hours, the church will be dark when we enter. But then as the lights are turned on one by one, the full majesty of St. Mark’s Basilica will be revealed in all its glory. The basilica’s glittering mosaics extend over more than 4,000 square metres, and this jaw-dropping expanse of gold has for good reason given St. Mark’s the nickname of the Church of Gold.
On our tour, your expert guide will teach you about the complicated iconography of these mosaics, how they were made and the enormous influence they were to have on the story of medieval art. From the oldest mosaics, crafted in the 11th-century, through the highpoint of medieval artisanship in the 1200s and right up to designs created by Renaissance and Mannerist masters like Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese.
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