Enhance your holiday travel experience by downloading this audio tour of St Marks Basilica in Venice, Italy
Great Discoveries Audio Tour of the St. Mark's Basilica offers today's tourist the most informative and entertaining way to visit this unique edifice, which has majestically dominated Venice's grand square, the Piazza San Marco, for over 900 years. Throughout the centuries, countless numbers of pilgrims and tourists alike have been awestruck by the golden magnificence of this, the largest and most lavishly decorated church of the 11th century. One can only imagine what it would have meant to an ancient pilgrim, weary from his long and dreary travels, to stand in the Piazza and view the Basilica's exotic beauty.
St. Mark's Basilica is unique for its wealth of history and for the magnificence of its facade and its interior. It was designed by an unknown Byzantine architect who built the church in the form of a Greek cross with five large domes, one for each arm of the cross, and one at the center. He supposedly modeled the Basilica after the Apostoleion, or Church of the Twelve Apostles, of Constantinople, which was later destroyed during the Turkish invasion in the 15th century. Its opulent style, with mosque-like onion shaped domes, clearly reflects the influence of Constantinople and the Orient.
Over the centuries, some of the greatest Italian, European and Eastern artists have worked in this glorious studio creating exotic, ornate, and utterly breathtaking art. Some 8,000 square meters of mediaeval mosaics, made from gold, semi precious stones and Venetian glass, covers the walls, vaults, and cupolas. Eight centuries of artisans and craftsmen have contributed to these wondrous decorations that characterize the evolution of Venetian art. St. Mark's Basilica is a martyrium, a sacred burial place for the mortal remains of martyrs. It has been a very significant holy place since the arrival of St. Mark's relics in 828 A.D. Legend provides exciting details of how the bones were secured. It is said that two Venetian merchants stole them from the saint's shrine in Alexandria and then smuggled them out of Egypt in a barrel of pork - an unclean meat to Muslims and therefore unlikely to be inspected. Whatever the actual means (theft of relics was common in the Middle Ages, but purchase is equally possible), the arrival of the bones is the occasion for the building of the first St Mark's in Venice. The church, rebuilt in the 11th century and subsequently enlarged and altered, has been ever since the proud centerpiece of the city.
Countless pilgrims traveled to visit the holy relics, even a Holy Roman Emperor, until October 8, 1094 when the body was sealed in a precious sarcophagus and placed inside the crypt built by Doge Falier. It remained there until the early 1800's, when it was moved to its present location under the table of the high altar. It lies there to this day, where the faithful continue to visit to express their devotion to the saint. Angelo Fiorenzuola once wrote 'In Venice, St. Mark was honored more highly than God Himself.
This carefully researched tour guides you through this magnificent Cathedral as a professional narrator, accompanied by historically appropriate background music, points out and describes its most significant works of art, spectacular mosaics, the world famous golden Altar-Screen (the Pala d'Oro) and other treasures. Step back in history as you listen to enchanting tales of the ruling doges, magnificent artists and of course the theft of St. Mark's mortal remains.
Guides are recorded in easy to follow segments that are readily located on your iPod. This 2 hour & 28 minute, 29 track, audio tour is designed to work with an easy to read building diagram, with clearly numbered locations, which coordinate with the track numbers and descriptions displayed on your iPod.
Author / Spoken By Laura Pytlik / Christopher Kent
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Enhance your holiday travel experience by downloading this audio tour of St Marks Basilica in Venice, Italy
Great Discoveries Audio Tour of the St. Mark's Basilica offers today's tourist the most informative and entertaining way to visit this unique edifice, which has majestically dominated Venice's grand square, the Piazza San Marco, for over 900 years. Throughout the centuries, countless numbers of pilgrims and tourists alike have been awestruck by the golden magnificence of this, the largest and most lavishly decorated church of the 11th century. One can only imagine what it would have meant to an ancient pilgrim, weary from his long and dreary travels, to stand in the Piazza and view the Basilica's exotic beauty.
St. Mark's Basilica is unique for its wealth of history and for the magnificence of its facade and its interior. It was designed by an unknown Byzantine architect who built the church in the form of a Greek cross with five large domes, one for each arm of the cross, and one at the center. He supposedly modeled the Basilica after the Apostoleion, or Church of the Twelve Apostles, of Constantinople, which was later destroyed during the Turkish invasion in the 15th century. Its opulent style, with mosque-like onion shaped domes, clearly reflects the influence of Constantinople and the Orient.
Over the centuries, some of the greatest Italian, European and Eastern artists have worked in this glorious studio creating exotic, ornate, and utterly breathtaking art. Some 8,000 square meters of mediaeval mosaics, made from gold, semi precious stones and Venetian glass, covers the walls, vaults, and cupolas. Eight centuries of artisans and craftsmen have contributed to these wondrous decorations that characterize the evolution of Venetian art. St. Mark's Basilica is a martyrium, a sacred burial place for the mortal remains of martyrs. It has been a very significant holy place since the arrival of St. Mark's relics in 828 A.D. Legend provides exciting details of how the bones were secured. It is said that two Venetian merchants stole them from the saint's shrine in Alexandria and then smuggled them out of Egypt in a barrel of pork - an unclean meat to Muslims and therefore unlikely to be inspected. Whatever the actual means (theft of relics was common in the Middle Ages, but purchase is equally possible), the arrival of the bones is the occasion for the building of the first St Mark's in Venice. The church, rebuilt in the 11th century and subsequently enlarged and altered, has been ever since the proud centerpiece of the city.
Countless pilgrims traveled to visit the holy relics, even a Holy Roman Emperor, until October 8, 1094 when the body was sealed in a precious sarcophagus and placed inside the crypt built by Doge Falier. It remained there until the early 1800's, when it was moved to its present location under the table of the high altar. It lies there to this day, where the faithful continue to visit to express their devotion to the saint. Angelo Fiorenzuola once wrote 'In Venice, St. Mark was honored more highly than God Himself.
This carefully researched tour guides you through this magnificent Cathedral as a professional narrator, accompanied by historically appropriate background music, points out and describes its most significant works of art, spectacular mosaics, the world famous golden Altar-Screen (the Pala d'Oro) and other treasures. Step back in history as you listen to enchanting tales of the ruling doges, magnificent artists and of course the theft of St. Mark's mortal remains.
Guides are recorded in easy to follow segments that are readily located on your iPod. This 2 hour & 28 minute, 29 track, audio tour is designed to work with an easy to read building diagram, with clearly numbered locations, which coordinate with the track numbers and descriptions displayed on your iPod.
Author / Spoken By Laura Pytlik / Christopher Kent
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