It is not the physical conditions alone that make Venice unique. In
the beauty and interest of its domestic architecture it ranks before
any city in the world. The mosaics of Venice have been famous for
centuries, and are today the marvel of all who see them. The spot where
Venice has massed the gems of her beauty is St. Mark’s Place.
[Illustration: A VENETIAN CANAL
_One of the smaller and narrower canals of Venice._]
[Illustration: ST. MARK’S CATHEDRAL
_The remains of St. Mark, the tutelary saint of Venice, are said to
have been brought from Alexandria in 829, and to have been buried
here._]
The view of Venice most familiar to stay-at-home bodies is the one
to be had from across the water looking at St. Mark’s Place, and
including, besides the cathedral of St. Mark, the Doge’s (doje) Palace
and Campanile (cam-pa-nee´-le) Tower, and in some cases a glimpse of
the Bridge of Sighs. The Piazza of St. Mark is called the “Heart of
Venice.” All the life of the city surges there at certain times, then
sweeps from there through its various channels. It is gayest on summer
evenings, when the population turns out to enjoy the fresh air and
listen to the military band. At that time the piazza is brilliant
with fashionable people. Go there on a moonlight night, and you will
find it a dream of beauty. You must see, of course, the pigeons of St.
Mark’s. Flocks of them circle about the square or gather in groups on
the pavement, wherever food is to be found. The pigeons of St. Mark’s
used to be fed at public expense. It is not necessary now: there are
always plenty of travelers that will pay them this pleasant toll for
the sake of being photographed in their company. St. Mark’s Place is
191 yards in length, and in width 61 yards on one side and 90 on the
other. The beautiful effect of it can hardly be expressed. It is paved
with trachyte and marble, and surrounded by buildings that are not only
important historically but most interesting architecturally.
[Illustration: THE RECONSTRUCTED CAMPANILE OF ST. MARK’S]
The Church of St. Mark, now a cathedral, was begun in 830. The year
before that the bones of St. Mark, the saint of Venice, were brought
from Alexandria, and they now lie buried in the church. This marvelous
building is Romanesque in style. During the eleventh and twelfth
centuries it was remodeled and decorated with most lavish magnificence.
In the fifteenth century it received some Gothic additions which
enhanced its effect. In such short space as this it is impossible to do
justice to the beauty of St. Mark’s. It is best by far to rest on what
Ruskin has said in his “Stones of Venice”:
“The effects of St. Mark’s depend not only upon the most delicate
sculpture in every part, but eminently on its color also, and that the
most subtle, variable, inexpressible color in the world,--the color of
glass, of transparent alabaster, of polished marble, and lustrous gold.”
[Illustration: AMERICANS FEEDING THE DOVES OF ST. MARK’S]
The building is in the form of a Greek cross, with mosaics covering
more than 4,500 square feet. Over the upper entrance are four horses in
gilded bronze, counted among the finest of ancient bronzes. They may
have adorned the triumphal arch of Nero or that of Trajan in Rome. The
Emperor Constantine sent them to Constantinople, and from there they
were brought by the Doge Dandolo to Venice in 1204. These horses were
taken to Paris by Napoleon in 1797, and for awhile crowned a triumphal
arch in that city. After Napoleon’s downfall, in 1815, the bronzes were
restored to their original place at Venice.