Mass at St Mark's Basilica

St Mark's Basilica celebrates Mass every day, and entry for worship is always free. You go in through the Porta dei Fiori, on the north side of the church facing the Piazzetta dei Leoncini, open for prayer from 7.30am to 7.30pm. From Monday to Saturday Mass is at 8am, 10am and 6.45pm. On Sundays and holy days of obligation it is at 8am, 10am, 12 noon and 6.45pm, and the 10am Mass is sung by the Basilica's choir, the Cappella Marciana.

What are the Mass times?

Monday to Saturday

The weekday morning services are held at the altar of the Nicopeia, named after the icon of the Madonna Nicopeia brought from Constantinople in 1204.

Sundays and holy days of obligation (in the nave)

Confession is available on weekdays from 10am to 12 noon and from 5pm to 7pm.

How do you enter for Mass?

Use the Porta dei Fiori, on the north façade, facing the Piazzetta dei Leoncini. No ticket is needed for prayer, Mass or other services. The door has a ramp, so wheelchair users enter here for services.

Arrive a little before the start, and dress as for any visit: shoulders and knees covered, no very short skirts or shorts, no low necklines, men without hats and no bare feet. Large rucksacks and wheeled cases aren't allowed in. More on the dress code page.

Can you sightsee during Mass?

No. The free entrance is for people who come to pray or attend a service. The Procuratoria's terms say paying visitors may not enter the Basilica during religious services, and the church can't be toured during Mass.

That is why visiting times work around worship:

• Weekdays: the visitors' timetable starts at 9.30am. As of 10 November 2026, the official shop no longer sells the daily 10–10.30am visiting slot, which is kept for worship.
• Sundays and holy days: the Basilica opens to visitors only at 2pm. In the morning only the Museum is open.

If you want both, attend Mass through the Porta dei Fiori and book a separate visiting slot for another time. See opening hours and tickets.

The Cappella Marciana

The Cappella Marciana is the Basilica's musical chapel. It was founded at the beginning of the 14th century and soon became the centre of musical life in Venice. You can hear it at the 10am Solemn Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. The Basilica states that it does not host concerts, so the liturgy is the way to hear the choir in the church.

A cathedral and a doge's chapel

The church's full title is the Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of St Mark, the Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco. For about a thousand years it served as the Doge's chapel, the state church of the Republic, directly dependent on the Doge. It became the cathedral of Venice and the seat of the Patriarch only in 1807, when, by Napoleon's will, the cathedral was moved here from San Pietro di Castello.

The Basilica keeps the relics of St Mark, brought from Alexandria in the 9th century. The story is on the St Mark the Evangelist page.

Christmas, Easter and feast days

The regular timetable above doesn't cover the great feasts. On holy days of obligation and at celebrations led by the Patriarch of Venice, times can change, and special liturgies are announced in the liturgical calendar on basilicasanmarco.it. The feast of St Mark is on 25 April.

On 10 November 2026 the official booking calendar showed no visitor slots for 25 December 2026; Christmas Day visitors who want to attend Mass should check the liturgical calendar.

For liturgical questions, the sacristy's address is sacrestia@procuratoriasanmarco.it.