Venice Italy's Church of St. Mark
The Stealing of a Patron Saint from Egypt
Today Venice, Italy is a popular tourist destination where many vacationers flock during the warmer months to enjoy the picturesque city on water. But present day Venice Italy began as a wealthy merchant colony. Prior to 1860, the Italy that we know today was a collection of self-governing city-states which had distinct cultures, languages and traditions. Venice, being one of the five original Maritime Provinces, was one of the wealthiest and sought to display their wealth with a bragging rite that no other could achieve.
Venetian economy heavily relied on the revenue that it gained from trade and therefore had close contact with the areas of the Arab Empire that extended into present day Northern Africa. Such an overlap in culture can be seen in the Venice’s Church of St. Mark, whose architecture has many Arab architectural characteristic. The church was built as a means of showing Venice’s affluence and prestige and sought to rival Rome as one of the wealthiest areas of Western Europe at the time.
First built in the 9th century out of wood, St. Mark’s was destroyed later that century by a fire. It was rebuilt a second time in the next century, this time out of marble, and was heavily inlaid with mosaic style trims, a characteristic that is distinct to many of the mosques of the Muslim faith. One of the more detailed mosaics of the basilica depicts the transfer of the body of St. Mark from Alexandria, Egypt, to Venice. While cultural differences usually put little strain on the trading relationship between the Arabs and Venetians, there was a time when religious belief allowed the Christians to deceivingly take the body of St. Mark to Venice. A visual of this episode greets guests at the front entrance of the basilica.
St. Mark was buried in Alexandria, Egypt during the first century. As a means of prestige, Venice sought to transport the body of their patron saint to the church that bore his name to use as a sort of bragging rite to rival the prestige of Rome. However, stealing the body from Egypt could prove to be a difficult task. However, the Muslim faith forbade followers to handle any pork products and the Christians decided to use this to their advantage. They smuggled the body of St. Mark across the border of Egypt in a large basket. They covered the body with pieces of pork and when the shipment was checked, none of the Arabs dared touch the tainted meat. The body of St. Mark was then taken to Venice where it is said to remain to this day.
When one walks to the entranceway of the Basilica of St. Mark, they are greeted by detailed mosaic of this story. The image depicts the repulsed look of the Arab merchants as they allow the seemingly pork filled basket to cross their borders untouched. The old saying states, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” and though the story of the transfer of St. Mark to Venice may not make that exact count, the mosaic that greets visitors at Venice’s Basilica of St. Mark tells a great deal about how St. Mark ended up in one of the wealthiest Maritime Provinces of the Italian city-states.
 |
 |
 |
 |
