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May 31, 2018 Today is our last day as a group. We started out with a trip to the glass blowing demonstration and a description of how they make the world famous glass here. Then they turned us loose to shop. Since I don't own any Venetian glass (the last time I was here I was 23 years old and didn't have much money) I decided to buy some Venetian glass. I bought a glass aquarium that looks really nice when put on a stand with a light. They ship it to my home.
From here we went to San Marco Square for a tour with a local guide. We went to St. Marks Basilica and the Doge's Palace.
Here's descriptions from Wikipedia:
The first St Mark's was a building next to the
Doge's Palace, ordered by the doge in 828, when Venetian merchants stole the supposed relics of
Mark the Evangelist from
Alexandria, and completed by 832; from the same century dates the first
St Mark's Campanile (bell tower). The church was burned in a rebellion in 976, when the populace locked
Pietro IV Candiano inside to kill him, and restored or rebuilt in 978. Nothing certain is known of the form of
these early churches. From perhaps 1063
the present
basilica was constructed. The consecration is variously recorded as being in 1084-5, 1093 (the date most often taken), 1102 and 1117, probably reflecting a series of consecrations of different parts.
In 1094 the supposed body of Saint Mark was rediscovered in a
pillar by
Vitale Faliero,
doge at the time.
The building also incorporates a low tower (now housing St Mark’s Treasure), believed by some to have been part of the original Doge's Palace. The
Pala d'Oro ordered from Constantinople was installed on the
high altar in 1105.
In 1106 the church, and especially its mosaics, were damaged by a serious fire in that part of the city; it is not entirely clear whether any surviving mosaics in the interior predate this, though there is some 11th-century work surviving in the main porch.
The main features of the present structure were all in place by then, except for the
narthex or porch, and the
facade.
The basic shape of the church has a mixture of Italian and Byzantine features, notably "the treatment of the eastern arm as the termination of a basilican building
Our group on the boat.
Tony & Maria in front.with main apse and two side chapels rather than as an equal arm of a truly centralized structure".
In the first half of the 13th century the narthex and the new facade were constructed, most of the mosaics were completed and the
domes were covered with second much higher domes of lead-covered wood in order to blend in with the
Gothic architecture of the redesigned Doge's Palace.
The
Doge's Palace (
Italian:
Palazzo Ducale;
Venetian:
Pałaso Dogal) is a
palace built in
Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of
Venice in northern
Italy. The palace was the residence of the
Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former
Republic of Venice, opening as a museum in 1923. Today, it is one of the 11 museums run by the
Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia.
Enough of that! After our tour we were on our own so I walked & walked, got lost, got found, got lost again, and found my way to the Bauer shuttle bus which brings us across the water to the other Bauer hotel (the one we are staying is on another island). I had lunch, did a little shopping, and suffered in the heat. I was happy
On the boat.
Clare & Gary in front. to go back to the hotel and get ready for our farewell dinner.
This is one of the best groups I've traveled with. Tomorrow I'm on my own and take the boat bus to the train station, take the train to Florence, and join the choir group.
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Ellie
non-member comment
Thanks!
Have loved reading your blog, Sue. You helped me learn about what I saw. Hope you are loving Florence!