The basilica we see today was commissioned by Doge Domenico Contarini in the eleventh Century and was the third shrine to Saint Mark worked at the site. Those treasures and the artistry that has been lavished on the basilica throughout the long term make it a milestone of Venice and Italy, however of all Europe. Highlights to see are the 4,240 square meters canvassed in ethereal and luminous gold mosaics, the heavenly brilliant Byzantine retable known as the Pala d'Oro, the decorated marble floors, and the icons and gold reliquaries in the Treasury. When Venetian crusaders brought back shiploads of Byzantine workmanship treasures after the fall of Constantinople, St. Imprint's got rich past creative mind. This church is so named because it houses the assortment of Saint Mark. Two or three Venetian merchants stole the saint's body from Alexandria and took it back to Venice in the year 829, and the development of the church began soon after.