New Restrictions at St. Mark’s Basilica

Italian church authorities have restricted the number of visitors allowed to enter St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice.

The authorities have also imposed complete silence on visitors, meaning that the tour guides will only be able to give tourists commentaries on the church if they are equipped with headphones linked to a radio. The new rules also prohibit the taking of photographs. Church officials say that tourists are violating the basilica’s role as a place of worship.

According to the Times of London, Livio Ricciardi, superintendent for the Archeological Heritage of Venice, said that “each year nearly 3 million pairs of feet scuff and scrape the age-old pavements and mosaics of St. Mark’s in a stream that continues uninterrupted from 10 in the morning until 7 in the evening.”

The basilica, with its five onion-shaped domes, is situated at one end of St. Mark’s Square. Dating to 832, it is considered one of the most important churches in Christendom and is filled with mosaics, marble statues and carvings.