ST MARK’S BASILICA IS GETTING READY FOR THE HOLY YEAR

Some important works will be completed by 13 December, when the patriarch of Venice will open the Holy Door of the basilica on the occasion of the Holy Year of Mercy. This was announced by Ettore Vio, Proto of St Mark’s, who has watched over this artistic treasure for 35 years. So some restorations to the cathedral, always marked by constant maintenance works, will be finished within a few weeks. Those being completed are to the ambo, which will be cleaned, the mosaics of Saints Mark, Peter, Nicholas and Hermagorus, and a pillar that is being strengthened. Other works will be completed by 2016. Finally, the fifth dome of the prophets, currently under maintenance, will return to its ancient splendour in 2019. The constant restoration to the more than 8500 square metres of mosaics, which require constant attention, must not be forgotten either. Numerous works are thus being carried out, for which financing has fortunately been found, albeit with greater difficulty, allowing St Mark’s Basilica to be maintained in all its eternal splendour.