# San Marco Evangelista al Campidoglio, Rome

San Marco is a minor basilica in Rome dedicated to Saint Mark the Evangelist located in the small Piazza di San Marco adjoining Piazza Venezia. It was first built in 336 by Pope Mark, whose remains are in an urn located below the main altar. The basilica is the national church of Venice in Rome.

## History

In 336, Pope Mark built a church devoted to one of the Evangelists, his patron saint, Mark the Evangelist, in a place called ad Pallacinas. This first church was built atop preexisting, pre-Constantinian structures of unknown date or function, but excavations in the mid-1950s revealed an ancient Roman mosaic with acanthus vine-scroll ornamentation underneath the southern end of the right side of the basilica. The synod of Pope Symmachus in 499 records the church as Titulus Marci, leading scholars to hypothesize that this earlier structure was a residence owned by Pope Mark who gifted the property to a Christian congregation within the first few months of his papacy. Pope Mark's first church incorporated walls from this earlier structure, and featured a new colonnade, opus sectile pavements, and frescoed walls, of which a small fragment depicting several horses survives underneath the present-day basilica. Ash deposits on the pavement and burned marble uncovered in the mid-1950s excavations appear to provide evidence that this first church was destroyed in a fire.
A second church was built possibly in the second half of the 6th century, but the lack of archaeological evidence and written records make it difficult to properly date. The floor was placed one meter above the first church's floor, possibly to protect the structure against flooding, which was common in medieval Rome. This second church featured a chancel enclosure that divided the nave and provided space for the Schola Cantorum.
Following restoration work to the second church's roof and aisles under Pope Adrian I, a third church was rebuilt by Pope Gregory IV in 833. The new floor consisted of large blocks of tufa that were likely part of the Servian walls. The floorplan of the third church aligned with the prior two churches, but the best surviving architectural elements from the third church are the apse, the annular crypt, and the clerestory.
Further changes were made to the church throughout the 12th century, with the addition of a Romanesque campanile above the southern end of the nave, sculptural work around the main southern portal, and a new ciborium above the high altar. From 1465–70, Pope Paul II renovated the church's façade according to the Renaissance taste, with a portico and loggia, using marbles taken from the Colosseum and the Theater of Marcellus. It was at this time that the church was incorporated into the Palazzo Venezia complex, and the clerestory windows were enlarged and ornamented with Gothic tracery, a common feature of Quattrocento Roman architecture.
During the early modern period, the church underwent two major redecoration campaigns. From 1654–57, Niccolò Sagredo commissioned Orazio Torriani to redecorate the colonnade with regularized Ionic capitals and white-washed shafts. Then, from 1732–54, Cardinal Angelo Maria Quirini commissioned Filippo Barigioni to redesign the high altar and choir stalls. Paintings and sculptures by Baroque and Neoclassical artists, such as Pier Francesco Mola, Guillame Courtois, Palma il Giovane, Luigi Primo, Carlo Maratta, Cosimo Fancelli, and Antonio Canova can be found in throughout the nave of the present-day church.

## Interior

The floor of the church is below the ground level of the Renaissance period, and therefore steps lead down to the interior. The church retains its ancient basilica format, with a raised sanctuary. The inside of the church is clearly Baroque. However, the basilica shows noteworthy elements of all her earlier history:
* the apse mosaics, dating to Pope Gregory IV (827-844), show the Pope, with the squared halo of a living person, offering a model of the church to Christ, in the presence of Mark the Evangelist, Pope Mark and other saints;
* the wooden ceiling, with the emblem of Pope Paul II (1464-1471), is one of only two original 15th-century wooden ceilings in Rome, together with the one at Santa Maria Maggiore;
* Cardinal Angelo Maria Querini (cardinal priest of S. Marco 1728–1743) restored the Choir, renewed the pavement of the Chapel of the Sacrament, and rebuilt the high altar.
* the tomb of Leonardo Pesaro of Venice, aged 16, by Antonio Canova (1796).
In the portico are several early Christian grave stones, as well as the gravestone of Vannozza dei Cattanei, the mistress of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia.

## Cardinal priests

| Name | Dates | Notes |
| Johannes | 1059 (attested) | |
| Atto | 1072–84 (attested) | Excommunicated by Pope Gregory VII as a schismatic. |
| Robertus | 1086 (attested) | |
| Romanus | 1098–1118 (attested) | Supported the Antipope Clement III. |
| Bonifatius | 1111–30 (attested) | Supported the Antipope Anacletus II in the schism. |
| Petrus | 1130 | |
| Guido | 1133–43 | |
| Gibertus | 1143–50 | |
| Rolandus Bandinelli | 1151–59 | Elected Pope Alexander III. |
| Johannes | 1170–90 | |
| Goffredo da Castiglione | September 1227–1239 | Promoted Bishop of Sabina, elected Pope Celestine IV. |
| Guillaume de Bray | May 1262–29 April 1282 | |
| Pietro Peregrosso | 1289–1 August 1295 | |
| Bertrand de Déaulx | 18 December 1338–4 November 1348 | Promoted Bishop of Sabina. |
| Franciscus de Aptis | 23 December 1356 | |
| Jean de Blauzac (Blandiaco) | 17 September 1361–1372 | Promoted Bishop of Sabina. |
| Petrus Amelii | 18 December 1379–10 August 1389 | |
| Giovanni Fieschi | 1390–died before December 1384 | |
| Ludovicio Donati | 21 December 1381–December 1386 | |
| Angelo Correr (Corrario) | 12 June 1405–30 November 1406 | Elected Pope Gregory XII. |
| Antonio Calvi | 2 July 1409–2 October 1411 | |
| Guillaume Fillastre | 6 June 1411–6 November 1428 | |
| Pietro Barbo | 16 June 1451–30 August 1464 | Elected Pope Paul II. |
| Marco Barbo | 2 October 1467–2 March 1491 | |
| Lorenzo Cibo de Mari | 14 March 1491–21 December 1503 | |
| Domenico Grimani | 25 December 1503–27 August 1523 | |
| Marco Cornaro | 14 December 1523–20 May 1524 | Appointed Bishop of Albano. |
| Francesco Pisani | 3 May 1527–21 June 1564 | Appointed Bishop of Ostia. |
| Luigi Cornaro | 21 June 1564–2 June 1568 | Opted for the titulus of S. Vitale. |
| Luigi Pisani | 2 June 1568–3 June 1570 | |
| Luigi Cornaro (second term) | 9 June 1570–10 May 1584 | |
| Gianfrancesco Commendone | 14 May 1584–26 December 1584 | |
| Agostino Valier | 14 January 1585–1 June 16t05 | Appointed Bishop of Palestrina. |
| Giovanni Delfino | 1 June 1605–23 June 1621 | |
| Matteo Pruilli | 23 June 1621–13 March 1624 | |
| Pietro Valier | 18 March 1624–9 April 1629 | |
| Federico Cornaro | 26 April 1629–19 November 1646 | |
| Marcantonio Bragadin | 19 November 1646–28 March 1658 | |
| Cristoforo Vidman | 1 April 1658–30 September 1660 | |
| Pietro Ottoboni | 15 November 1660–13 September 1660 | |
| Gregorio Barbarigo | 13 September 1677–18 June 1697 | |
| Marcantonio Barbarigo | 1 July 1697–26 May 1706 | |
| Giambattista Rubini | 25 June 1706–17 February 1707 | |
| Giovanni Alberto Badoer | 11 July 1712–14 May 1714 | |
| Luigi Pruili | 28 May 1714–15 March 1720 | |
| Pietro Pruili | 6 May 1720–22 January 1728 | |
| Angelo Maria Quirini | 8 March 1728–6 January 1755 | |
| Carlo della Torre Rezzonico | 17 February 1755–6 July 1758 | Elected Pope Clement XIII. |
| Antonio Maria Pruili | 19 April 1762–26 October 1772 | |
| Carlo Rezzonico | 14 December 1772–26 January 1799 | |
| Ludovico Flangini-Giovanelli | 2 April 1800–24 May 1802 | Translated to S. Anastasia. |
| Luigi Ercolani | 22 July 1816–10 December 1825 | |
| Karl Kajetan von Gaisruck | 21 May 1829–19 November 1846 | |
| Charles Januarius Acton | 21 December 1846–23 June 1847 | |
| Giacomo Piccolomini | 4 October 1847–17 August 1861 | |
| Pietro de Silvestri | 27 September 1861–19 November 1875 | |
| Domenico Bartolini | 3 April 1876–2 October 1887 | |
| Michelangelo Celesia | 25 November 1887–14 April 1904 | |
| József Samassa | 11 December 1905–20 August 1912 | |
| Franz Xavier Nagl | 2 December 1912–4 February 1913 | |
| Friedrich Piffl | 25 May 1914–12 April 1932 | |
| Elia Dalla Costa | 13 March 1933–22 December 1961 | |
| Giovanni Urbani | 19 March 1962–17 September 1969 | |
| Albino Luciani | 5 March 1973–26 August 1978 | Elected Pope John Paul I. |
| Marco Cé | 30 June 1979–12 May 2014 | |
| Angelo De Donatis | 28 June 2018–today | |