Basilica di San Marco

Facts

• The church is built of marble-faced brick. The interior is in the plan of a Greek cross and is decorated with elaborate mosaics.
• The four bronze horses above the main entrance have now been replaced with copies. The originals are thought to be of Roman or Greek origin.
• The four bronze horse statues at the top of the building were taken from the Hippodrome of Constantinople (Istanbul), after the sack of that city by Latin Crusaders (especially Venetians) during the Fourth Crusade (1204).
• St. Mark's Basilica is built in Byzantine style, imitating the Church of The Holy Apostles in Constantinople (Istanbul) which was built by the Roman emperor Constantine The Great in 337 AD, where Constantine himself and all the Roman and Byzantine emperors after him were buried.
• Many important icons which embellished the original Church of The Holy Apostles in Constantinople were stolen during the Fouth Crusade (1204) and are now displayed inside the Basilica of San Marco in Venice.