VIP St. Mark's Basilica After Dark
VIP St. Mark's Basilica After Dark
The excitement begins as you meet up with our guide at St. Mark's Square and learn the history of the church and of Venice through thrilling anecdotes and swashbuckling stories - including how it received St. Mark's relics during a 9th century kidnapping!
Shortly after St. Mark's closes to the public you will draw stares from passersby as a custodian reopens the Basilica's closed doors for you. Once inside you will be one of the privileged few to experience the basilica the way the Doge himself did - in tranquility and peace. While here take the opportunity to admire Pala d'Oro, the spectacular, Byzantine altarpiece that uses more than 1,900 gems, without having to lean around people or wait in line to do so.
Night time is the best time to visit St. Mark's because that's when the mosaics are at their most beautiful; all 43,000 square feet are lit up, glimmering and sparkling in the dark. And as a VIP you will get to go where the public doesn't: into the crypt rumored to contain the relics of St. Mark.
While here, note the stained walls from past floods that would fill the crypt during high tides. Throughout your time in the basilica your guide will share bits of history and stories, including the swashbuckling tale of how St. Mark's became St. Mark's, a story that pivots on a kidnapping and a dangerous sea voyage.
Sign up for this once-in-a-lifetime tour and experience St. Mark's Basilica like almost no one else and without the lines or crowds.