Ari rides the lions

San Marco

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September 16th 2009
This past week we took a tour of the interior of the Basilica San Marco, that famous building Henry James called, "the strange old church of Saint Mark," or more evocatively in Twain's words, "a vast and warty bug taking a meditative walk." It is true that San Marco surprised me with its Byzantine character, and that it doesn't seem to match the campanile, nor the other buildings around it. No ... read more

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice

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Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI establis... ... read more