Illumination in St. Marks, Venice
Gently rattling the huge iron keys, the custodian to St Mark’s Basilica in Venice, beckons us enter.
It is dark and St. Mark’s is closed to public. Overhead a 13th century sculpture of the Virgin and Child, marks this gateway as the entrance to the Madonna Nicopeia, the icon seized from the Byzantine Emperors during the sack of Constantinople in 1204.
We are aglow thanks to Tiepolo cocktails with Franca, the Venetian historian we have met shortly before in Caffè Florian on St Mark’s Square, who points out and explains such details.
The noise and chatter in St Mark’s Square fade behind. Stepping into the inner sanctum of the Basilica itself, silence falls totally. The thick 10th century walls ensure no sound penetrates. The interior is dark save for the flicker of votive candles.
Franca leads us over the undulating marble floor to sit on pews under the central crossing. Gazing upwards, light breaks like dawn as the ceiling begins to glow, gently at first, then brighter and more golden every moment as the arc lights warm. Overhead golden mosaics glitter, brightening and illuminating the darkness below.
Our dinner celebration afterwards takes place at Restaurant Do Forni, just off St. Mark’s square, continuing the performance. Led through a maze of rooms, restaurateur Eligio Paties Montagner seats us in the 18th century salon at its heart, introducing classic Venetian dishes paired with wines from his vast cellar. From the history of the ‘sgroppino’ – a sort of vodka lemon sherbert – served after the delicious turbot cooked with taggiasche olives and tomato, to Tiramisu – the sweet coffee dessert invented in the Veneto, tales of Venice’s cuisine intermingle with delicious tastes and wines.
