Cosi cosi

SAN MARCO


The Doge’s Palace was not something that had made it onto my little historical radar (key word being ‘little’.) It was, as any edifice carved in white marble with gilt-framed paintings at every turn will be, impressive. Sheer scale and age will do that. So will a lack of expectations.

Palazzo San Marco, however, and the Basilica San Marco, was entirely underwhelming and overrated. It is dark and gloomy despite the gold mosaics proliferating on every horizontal service. One can neither sit nor walk in the main body of the church. While I understand WHY this is so, given its significance as a tourist attraction and the troubles in upkeep, it made it difficult to get a sense of it as a place of worship. Much more to my taste were some of the white, airy, simpler churches we stumbled across at every second or third campo.

Once again, while I understand the role of ‘awe’ in the history of religion, and the role played by the intense pictorial representations that abound in Europe’s ‘grandest’ churches, I find them stifling. For me, with my more fluid and spiritual ‘beliefs’, I look upon churches as a place of reflection, to listen, not worship. To open up my mind and let it float and bob along the vaulted marble ceilings. To let the light fill my vision, the quiet fill my ears, the votives tickle my nose…it’s just me and my tranquil soul. No queue required.