Can anyone give me some info about visiting San Marco Basilica? I've been picking up snippets of information and was wondering if someone can verify some of the info for me? The San Marco official website is not very helpful at all.

1 - Is it true that we can only stay in the Basilica for 10 minutes? Do they time you and herd you out? Or is the 10 minutes only a suggestion?

2 - Sounds like there is some kind of lighting schedule? Where can I find the schedule so I can time my visit correctly?

3 - Lastly, what sort of things are in the museum? Is it worth the time to go see the Museum? If so, how much time should I dedicate to spending inside the Museum?

Thanks

I think the "10 minute maximum" rule is a psychological trick to try to keep folks moving when there is a long line. We stayed a lot longer, and no one paid a bit of attention to us. We paid for two things. One was the jeweled altarpiece, which was stunning. The other is the musuem upstairs...that is the way to get out on the balcony, see the "real" horses, and see the mosaics up close.

There is an illumination schedule, but I don't remember it.

Is it lit up at night?

Worth dragging a tripod to photograph it?

Not just the interior but also the whole square?

You cannot photograph inside the basilica. The outside is lit at night. The lighting schedule referenced is inside on the mosaics. I thought they just had one of those machines that turn the lights on if you feed it coins.

scrb, you haven't seen night images of the piazza before? Definitely worth the trip in itself.

Another good shot is capturing the colors on the Basilica during the daytime when the sunlight hits it just right. You don't notice them so much when it's cloudy out, but it sure it pretty when the sunlight twinkles off of it.

Hello Ctu,

No, it is not true that you can only stay 10 mins. It is a huge place, no way they can keep track how long anybody stays. You might be confused in that if you make a reservation to go in ( and therefore bypassing the long line of people that's always waiting to go in) they give you a 10 minutes window of time in which to go in.

I'll see if I can find the website where you make the reservation and I'll post it. It's free! You just have to print out the confirmation and show it to the guard at the main door.

the website where you can book the timed entrance to St Marks is:

www.alata.it

It is a free service. It worked great for us.

We went in and stayed for over an hour.
And yes, for the museum that is upstairs you need to pay (Ithink 3 euros) but I am so glad we did! The real horses are there plus you can go outside on the balcony and the views are great!

ttt

bookmarking

No such thing as a ten minute stay in the Basilica. I didn't worry too much about illumination schedule because they had a fantastic concert one night on the square and everything was lit up.

As you come out, you will be greeted by a ton of pigeons. One of them became quite close to me, he looks like a pigeon, and responds to "hey birdie". Can you say hello to him for me? Just raise your hand in the air, and the first of a dozen will be him. Just kidding

I know you will love Venice. Have a great time.

There IS a time of day where they turn on all the lights inside...I'm thinking it's mid-morning - maybe 10 or 11 am, because we couldn't make it because we were on our Doge's Palace tour. I don't have my guide books with me, but I had Rick Steves and the DK Eyewitness Guide and the info was in one of them.

It's evening time right now in Venice, and with this Venice City Hall webcam shot, you can see for yourself how the beautiful mosaics on the front of the Basilica look as they are lit up at night:

http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm...T/IDPagina/893

By the way, the Basilica is not always lit up at night. Lately, for ecological reasons, City Hall has decreed that the Basilica "go dark" from time to time-but I don't know whether those times are fixed.

Statia makes a good point about the natural light on the basilica. I've never seen a building take on as many hues as this does at various times of day and under various weather conditions. It makes me appreciate why Monet painted in Venice all the more. Be sure to re-visit the Basilica and Square more than once. The peaches and pinks of sunset were my favorite!

Wow! Thanks for all the great feedback everyone!