Piazza San Marco. or St. Mark's Square in English. is a central landmark in Venice and the Basilica, the Doge's Palace and the Basilica campanile, which stand apart from the cathedral, dominate the piazza. The piazza is a sprawling area with tourist and pigeons wandering and milling about and this piazza is the only one so named in Venice; all others are called campi, regardless of their size. The piazza originated in the Ninth Century as a small area in front of St. Mark's Basilica and was enlarged in 1177.


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City of Canals

Venice, Italy

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The winged lion is a symbol of the Apostle Saint Mark and became a symbol of Venice and has its roots in a legend that in the ninth century two or three persons from Venice stole the remains of St. Mark from its location in the city of Alexandria in Egypt and brought the remains to Venice and presented it to the Doge, who was the ruler of Venice.


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The clock tower in Piazza San Marco is of huge historical significance as it was felt, during the height of Venice's maritime empire that a timepiece should be impressive. This clock tower was commissioned by Doge Agostino Barbarigo in 1493 and has the distinction of being the world's first digital timepiece, with the hours in Roman numerals on the left and minutes in Arabic numerals on the right.

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