Your guide will meet you at St. Mark’s Square for this special after-hours visit to St. Mark’s Basilica. With thrilling anecdotes and swashbuckling stories, your guide will tell you about the history of Venice and St. Mark’s. Hear how the Basilica received its precious relics via a 9th-century kidnapping. Passersby will wonder where you are going as a custodian unlocks the Basilica’s doors for you to enter. Inside, take a deep breath as you experience St. Mark’s Basilica as almost no one else has ever been able to, aside from the doge himself. There is no standing elbow-to-elbow with other tourists and no crowd noise. Instead, you are alone with your guide and the custodian. In tranquility and peace, experience the Basilica. You can even go where the others cannot during the day. 

See the crypt where the bones of St. Mark are said to be kept. Plus, you can see the walls stained by the past floods that devastated Venice. The crypt used to be flooded every time high tide hit the city. The evening is also the best time to visit because it is the time of day that the mosaics are at their most beautiful. All 43,000 square feet are illuminated, glimmering and sparkling in the dark. Your guide is passionate about Venetian art and history. Hear the tale of how St. Mark’s became St. Mark’s, a story that pivots on a kidnapping and a dangerous sea voyage. Learn where the precious marbles decorating St. Mark’s come from in one 1-hour tour.