Basilica di San Marco - tips and tricks when you cruise Europe

Now, I know that in your long career as a Mediterranean and world cruiser, you may have seen your share of churches. “They are all the same after a while” right?

:-)

However, if this is your first time visit to Venice… then you haven’t seen anything as unique and as memorable as the Basilica di San Marco yet.

Ok, maybe you’ve seen the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, and you’ll find the Basilica San Marco reminiscent of it… and you are so right!

Venice had always had strong connections with the Byzantine Empire and this building strongly conveys it.

The cupolas, the golden color of mosaics, the greek cross plan – the basilica is a little piece of the Orient in the middle of Western Europe.

How to get to Basilica di San Marco in Venice

Basilica di San Marco is placed right downtown Venice, in St. Mark's square. You'll easily recognize it if you approach Venice by water, by its big cupolas.

• cruise ship organized Venice water bus from the Stazione Marittima cruise ship terminal (15 minutes)
• Venice vaporetto from the Piazzale Roma (anywhere between 20 and 40 minutes)
• Or you can walk Venice from the cruise ship terminal (about 60 minutes)

Planning your time for a visit to Basilica di San Marco

Being a cruise ship passenger, with only a day or two in Venice, you may be a bit limited with time.

So after you’ve shot the life out of this stunningly beautiful structure (by the way, have you ever noticed how many pictures we sometimes take but when we show them to our friends back home, to them it’s just “more of the same”? It’s so hard to actually capture the essence of something so beautiful!)… you can go about seeing the basilica in two ways:

• enjoy it only from the outside and leave exploring it from the inside for some other time
• take an hour of time and see it from the inside too.

If you do decide to see it from the inside, the length of your visit to the Basilica di San Marco will depend on a few factors:

1. Length of the line - there always is one. Especially if you're visiting in high season (April to October). Sometimes going as far as the middle of the Piazzetta San Marco. Except maybe very very early in the morning. An average wait is about 15 minutes.

2. Whether you only want to visit the free-of-charge part of the church – the main part of the church where you will see the mosaics and marble floors.

3. Or… you want to visit the 3 different museums inside. There will be a couple of Euro charge to enter each one of them.

Basilica di San Marco: tickets, fees and cost of entering St. Marks Basilica

However, there are 3 separate museums incorporated into the building
and the charges to enter them are as follows:

• The Treasury: €2 (includes the audio guide but you need to inquire about it)
• Golden Altarpiece (Pala d’Oro) - €2
• San Marco Museum - €3

Basilica di San Marco: General tips

As in any other church in the world, it is recommended that visitors respect this sacred place:

• Your clothes must be appropriate - your knees and shoulders should be covered
• You cannot enter with big pieces of luggage/backpacks – it is very unlikely you'll have any, as a cruise ship passenger.

But, if you happen to have any with you, make sure you check it in first before standing in line for 15 minutes for nothing! The bag check is in a different location, Ateneo S. Basso.

Standing facing the Basilica San Marco, go round its left corner, across the piazzetta with the lion statue, and then first street to the left, Calle San Basso 315A.

You can read more about St. Mark's Basilica on the Basilica di San Marco official website.



RELATED ARTICLES:

• TOP 5 THINGS TO DO IN ST. MARK'S SQUARE
• ST. MARK'S BASILICA - HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EXTERIOR
• ST.MARKS BASILICA STORIES AND LEGENDS