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-   -   Who's Buried In St. Mark's Tomb in Venice? Alexander The Great? (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/whos-buried-in-st-marks-tomb-in-venice-alexander-the-great-492304/)

ParadiseLost Dec 26th, 2004 08:18 AM

Who's Buried In St. Mark's Tomb in Venice? Alexander The Great?
 
The story's few months old and I thought it would be interesting esp with the film out now.
 
And who knows, it might possibly be true, stranger things have happened :).

They have Alexander's father's remains, so if the Church gave permission for a DNA test of St. Mark's bones they would know for certain. www.rense.com/general53/romb.htm
Regards, Walter

Huitres Dec 26th, 2004 04:20 PM

Hi Walter, Historically, Alexander the Great's body is presumably buried in Alexandria, Egypt and nowhere near Europe (Venice). While the Venice theory/story is interesting, it is a bit far-fetched.

There is no recorded information of violent action against the tomb of Alexander the Great during the late Roman period, but some historical sources report considerable destruction in Alexandria during the reign of Emperor Theodosius (379-395), after Christianity became the state religion. After the Arab conquest, Alexandria lost much of its importance, as well as its population; and in the 15th century, the Turks almost finished off the city.

Italian archaeologist, Achille Adriani, who was the head of the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, produced the most plausible claim to the whereabouts of Alexander's tomb. Unfortunately, he died in 1982 before publishing his findings. However, one of his former students, Professor Bonacasa, has spent the last 20 years reconstructing Adriani's notes and lectures and suggests in his resulting book that the tomb is indeed in Alexandria as long believed.

Adriani suggested that the location of the Soma was in the northeastern part of the ancient city, which actually lies much closer to the Royal Quarter. He began excavation in a Latin cemetery where, in 1964, he uncovered the remarkable remains of an ancient Thumulus tomb chamber made of alabaster, which he apparently believed to be that of Alexander.

Further claim to Alexandria being the final resting place for Alexander has even been recorded in history by Ptolemy Lagos (337-283). He specifically wanted the body of the conqueror to be buried in Alexandria, in order to fulfill the prophecy of Aristander, Alexander's favorite soothsayer, who had predicted "that the country in which his body was buried would be the most prosperous in the world" - which Egypt was at that time.

In the meantime, the controversy over the exact location will continue to spark further historical and archaeological debate.


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