Venice - San Marco, Aquileia - Layers of Mosaics

Got out early, but there was already a long line for the San Marco Basilica by the time we arrived. We enjoyed touring the inside and seeing the Byzantine mosaics. Up in the museum, there were great views out over the interior of the Basilica and over the square outside. There was also an array of old tapestries from the palace next door. We also got to see the horses atop the Basilica. The horses are thought to be from ancient Greece, and are spectacular.

After San Marco, we hurried off to the Venice Airport where we picked up a rental car then drove on to Aquileia. In addition to being an important town in the spread of Christianity, which isn't really important to us, Aquileia, specifically the town's Cathedral, is one of those cool places where you get to see many layers of history right on top of each other. While there actually was a service going on while we were there (in a corner up front), the Cathedral is more archaeological site than church these days. The beautiful original mosaics covering almost the entirety of the floor have been uncovered and to protect them you walk through the cathedral on elevated glass walkways.

From Aquilia

From Aquilia

Approximately under the alter there is a crypt full of pastel frescoes with a few relics from minor saints. Where by relics, of course I mean bones of the saints in fancy displays. I know they have these all over European churches, but I don't think I will ever get over how weird it is.

From Aquilia

From Aquilia

Next up were the mosaic excavations where we saw the floor mosaics from the former church on the same site on the top level.

From Aquilia

A few feet below the level of the old church is the Roman basilica (meeting place). This one is well squished by the weight of the current bell tower, but you can see the mosaics that aren't directly under the tower.

From Aquilia

From Aquilia

From Aquilia

And even a bit further below the Roman basilica there are simpler mosaics from the old Roman house that stood on that spot.

From Aquilia

We've seen a lot of mosaics in this trip. And Mary and her parents have seen a lot of mosaics in previous trips (actually, they'd all been to Aquileia before but wanted to go back and to show Josh), and so we think we are really saying something when we say that this is still the best place to see mosaics.

There were also some Roman ruins around town outside, though nothing to write home about. So we'll leave it at that.

From Aquilia