Piazza San Marco

 St. Mark's Square

The closer you wind your way to St. Mark's Square through the alley ways the more people you merge with. You herd your way closer and closer until, like a grain sand squeezing itself into the bottom of and hourglass, you find your way into St. Mark's Square. The Basilica stands, in all its glory, overlooking the square. The buildings are lined with shops and restaurants. People laugh as the pigeons swoop onto their arms.

This was the first site we visited in Venice. As if the city itself did not take your breath away, St. Mark's Square does so tenfold. This is one of the most popular and photographed places in Italy. It sits just off the banks of the grand canal and houses many political buildings along side the historical landmarks. It is truly overwhelming to see it. Honestly, the only thing that I felt did not live up the hype were the pigeons. I expected it to be a foreign version of The Birds. Not that there was any lack of pigeons. There were quite a few patches of them. With any hint that you would feed them, they would charge at you. 

 As much as I loved the Piazza during the day, I prefer it at night. We went back right around midnight after a long day of sight seeing. The square was almost empty. It was quiet apart from the band playing their tune. All the souvenir carts  had rolled away for the evening. Then the bell tower began to chime. It was midnight and the band went silent. It was one of those moments you will never forget. I was surrounded by amazing people in and amazing place at an amazing time. It was the fir moment I was truly thankful I had this opportunity. Those things stick with you for the rest of your life.

360 degree panorama in venice in Venice

A Bit of Info

• The is around 87,000 square feet of mosaic in the Basilica. That is enough to cover 1.5 football fields.
• The bell tower, which is 323ft tall, collapsed in 1902 due to an earthquake. The government immediately began to rebuild it. The construction was completed in 1912. It also graciously woke us up every morning at 7.
• In 1254,  the horses were put in place
• The Basilica is a prime example of Byzantine architecture.
• The square was not paved until 1267. Those bricks were replaced in 1732.
• A law was passed to ban the feeding of pigeons in the square. People do it anyway.