There are several reasons that the Basilica di san Marco in Venice is so famous. One of the reasons is the story attached to the building of the church. It was built to house the remains of a saint who had been snuck out of Egypt in a barrel full of pork and taken to Venice by a couple of Venetian traders. While on their return journey, the ship and its occupants were nearly capsized by heavy storms. The ghost of the saint was said to have appeared to them and told them to lower the ship’s sails. They did so and returned safely to Venice. The church was then built and the story of that miraculous story can be seen on a fresco in the basilica. This is another reason it is so famous - all the incredible mosaics inside which were created by various artisans over a period of eight centuries! That means that depending on where you look, you can see art from a different century all in one building. And to top it off, these mosaics are gilded with gold, which means that depending on how light falls on the mosaics, a whole new range of colors can be seen, totally transforming the images.