Your guide will meet you at St. Mark’s Square for this special after-hours visit to St. Mark’s Basilica. With thrilling anecdotes and swashbuckling stories, your guide will tell you about the history of Venice and St. Mark’s. Hear how the Basilica received its precious relics via a 9th-century kidnapping. Passersby will wonder where you are going as a custodian unlocks the Basilica’s doors for you to enter. Inside, take a deep breath as you experience St. Mark’s Basilica as almost no one else ever has ever been able to, aside from the doge himself. There is no standing elbow-to-elbow with other tourists and no noise from the crowds. Instead, you are alone with your guide and the custodian. Experience the Basilica as it should be experienced: in tranquility and peace. You can even go where others, visiting during the day, cannot. See the crypt where the bones of St. Mark are said to actually be kept. Plus, you can see the walls stained by the past floods that have devastated Venice. The crypt used to be flooded every time high tide hit the city. The evening is also the best time to visit because it is the time of day that the mosaics are at their most beautiful. All 43,000 square feet are illuminated, glimmering and sparkling in the dark. Your guide for this tour is an expert, passionate about Venetian art and history and about sharing it with you in the most fun way possible. Hear the tale of how St. Mark’s became St. Mark’s, a story that pivots on a kidnapping and a dangerous sea voyage. Learn where the precious marbles decorating St. Mark’s really come from on a 1-hour tour that will leave you with lasting memories.