Who is venices patron saint

Replacement of the Greek Theodore by St. Mark was a long process. Right at the beginnings of Venice and its Republic Saint Mark the Evangelist was chosen as patron saint , side by side with the Virgin. To understand why, it is worthwhile sketching out the origins pf Venice and St. Approximately between and Venice managed to dissociate itself completely from Byzantium. It took a long time for St.

Mark to become the patron saint of Venice, just as it did for the formation of the legends connected with him. Placing his body in the new basilica in Venice was fundamental to establishing the figure of St.

Mark as patron saint. The most important aspect was possession since it involved the possessors in care, protection and worship of the saint, for which they hoped to receive his protection in return.

Known as the Lion of Saint Mark, the symbol is everywhere in the city. Chiseled onto buildings, stamped onto tiles, and stitched into flags, it serves as a constant reminder of the enduring relationship between city and saint. The glorification of Saint Mark in Venetian culture, however, came at the expense of another saint, Saint Theodore of Amasea. Painted between and for the Scuola Grande di San Marco, [2] the work is part of the permanent collection of the Accademia Galleries in Venice.

The mosaic, known as the Deposition mosaic, is the oldest exterior mosaic on the basilica and dates to Thus the evangelist was safely conveyed to Venice, but not before a number of miracles eased his passage across the Mediterranean. The Pala Feriale , an altarpiece of tempera and gold leaf on panel created by Paolo Veneziano and his sons in for Doge Andrea Dandolo, depicts the miraculous rediscovery of the relics. In , Giacomo Monico, Patriarch of Venice, exhumed the body of Saint Mark from the crypt beneath the basilica and placed it in the high altar.

Saint Mark had been martyred in Alexandria, and his remains had been kept in this church ever since. The two merchants spoke with the guardians of the saint. One night, under the cover of darkness, the priests let them into the church. Torcello and Malamocco took the body of Saint Mark and substituted it with the body of another, less exalted martyr, Saint Claudia. Suddenly, one of the piers to the right of the altar began to shake, and the masonry began to buckle. With a crash and a roar, an arm appeared, then a shoulder, a torso, and a head; and then the whole body of Saint Mark fell lifeless onto the pavement of the sanctuary.

The doge Falier placed this body in a marble sarcophagus in the crypt, and the Heroon of the Venetians received its patron saint. Sherievon said:. February 17, at pm. While we diligently research and update our holiday dates, some of the information in the table above may be preliminary.

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