VERY NAUGHTY BUT I JUST COULDN'T RESIST

Yesterday we visited St Marco's.

Free entry and a line that moved quite quickly and we were inside in no time. 

Gloomy inside but the wonderful gold ceilings still glowed in the dim light.

No photos allowed.

Then last night we found out that the lights are turned on for an hour every day from 11:30 am so today we returned expecting a very long line for this event.

St Marco was closed to the public as there was some sort of big military event on there and the church was full of soldiers in uniform .

We were channeled upstairs where for 5euros each we could have access to the roof ( sort of ) and the museum

and it all looked down on the church from a wide viewing area !

AND THE LIGHTS WERE ON !

Not only that but we were closer to the wonderful ceiling so we could see the detail of the wonderful mosaics.

The lights sparkled off each tiny glittering gold tile and the effect was breathtaking.

The signs said  " no photos" but everyone was clicking away .........

so I threw caution to the winds and snapped a few to show you.

I even zoomed a little so you could see the tiny tiles.

Have you ever seen anything so spectacular ?

Next we moved on to the museum where the four bronze horses are now housed. They have been carbon dated to the 2nd century BC !

They seemed to be quite life sized to me though very large horses. 

Copies now stand in the original position above the front entrance to St Marco's.

The view of the square below was great and you can see how impressive its size is.

Here's the winged lion , the symbol of st Marco.

and here's more of the wonderful mosaic work on the outside of the building.

The detail in these pictures is incredible and it's hard to believe they are done with thousands of tiny tiles.

I leave you today with our final goodbye to Venice. 

Worth every penny of the 80 euros it cost.

Down the small canals

then out into the Grand Canal near the Rialto Bridge.

" O sole mio " echoing in our heads .

Arrivederci Venizia !