St Mark's Basilica: a visitor's guide

Before you enter the church proper, look up in the narthex. The domes and vaults tell the stories of Genesis and Exodus: the Creation, Noah, Abraham, Joseph and Moses, drawn closely from an early Christian illustrated manuscript.

Inside, the gold ground of the mosaics turns the light itself into a subject. The Pentecost dome dates from the first half of the twelfth century; the central Ascension dome from the late twelfth century. Together with scenes from the Old and New Testaments and the life of Saint Mark, they make the church a picture book in gold.

Watch your step and the pavement: its twelfth-century opus sectile and mosaic panels, with geometric patterns and animals, ripple where the ground beneath has settled over the centuries.

Behind the high altar stands the Pala d'Oro, a gold altarpiece of about 250 cloisonné enamels and 1,927 gems. Its lower part dates from the time of Doge Ordelaffo Falier (1102–1118); it was enlarged in 1209 and entirely renewed in 1343–1345 under Doge Andrea Dandolo, with goldsmith work by Giovanni Paolo Bonesegna. It is a separate ticket.

Upstairs, the Museo di San Marco keeps the four original horses, brought from Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade of 1204, taken to Paris by Napoleon in 1797 and returned in 1815. They were moved indoors in 1982 and replicas now stand on the Loggia, where you can step out over Piazza San Marco. The museum also holds Paolo Veneziano's painted cover for the Pala d'Oro, tapestries and carpets.

Outside, on the corner of the treasury on the south side, the porphyry Tetrarchs embrace each other: another trophy from the East, set into the wall of the church.