About this guide
sanmarco1957.it is an independent guide to St Mark's Basilica in Venice and the sights around St Mark's Square. It helps you plan a visit: what the tickets cost, when the Basilica is open, what the rules are and what you will see inside.
We are not the official website
This site is not run by, and is not affiliated with, the Procuratoria di San Marco, which manages the Basilica, or with the Patriarchate of Venice. The official website of the Basilica is basilicasanmarco.it, and the only official ticket shop is the Procuratoria's own, at tickets.basilicasanmarco.it. If you need a decision from the Basilica, such as a refund on an official ticket or permission for a group, contact the Procuratoria directly.
How we check the facts
- Official sources first. Prices, opening hours, rules, Mass times and dates in the Basilica's history come from the Procuratoria's own pages and documents. For the Campanile, the Clock Tower, the Doge's Palace, water buses and the Venice access fee we use the official site of the body responsible.
- Quotes we can point to. Every fact we publish is backed by a passage on an official page that we keep on file with its address.
- Conflicts shown, not hidden. When two official pages disagree, for example on the year the relics of St Mark arrived or on the age up to which children go free, we give both versions and say where each comes from.
- Nothing filled in. If a figure isn't published by an official source, such as the area of the mosaics, we leave it out rather than repeat a number we cannot check.
- A date on every page. Each page shows when its information was last checked. Rules with an end date are written in their own sentence with that date, so they can be removed when they expire.
Prices and hours can change at short notice, especially around religious feasts. If you find something on this site that no longer matches the official source, please tell us.
How we earn money
Some links and booking boxes on this site go to Tiqets and GetYourGuide. If you book through them, the partner pays us a commission. The price you pay is the same as booking with the partner directly.
Partner links take you straight to the partner's own page; there is no redirect through our site. We show partner products because they add something to the visit, such as a host at the entrance, a live guide or a combined ticket, and we say plainly when the official ticket is cheaper. Partner prices on our pages are a guide and are refreshed daily; you see the final price on the partner's site before paying.
Photos
Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences or the public domain, and each one is credited with its author and licence.
Contact
Write to us at info@sanmarco1957.it for corrections, questions about the site or partnership enquiries. We can't sell or change official tickets, answer for the partners' bookings, or speak for the Basilica: for those, contact the Procuratoria or the partner you booked with.
How we handle data on this site is set out in our privacy notice.