Vanished church found beneath Venice’s famous Piazza San Marco

Archaeologists did not know its exact location due to the endless movements of the building

Archaeologists in Italy have begun excavations in the center of Piazza San Marco to restore trampled paving stones, the Office of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of the Municipality of Venice and Laguna said. During preparatory excavations, workers discovered a rectangular brick tomb filled with skeletons.

A rectangular stone-lined tomb dating from the seventh or eighth century was found beneath Venice’s St. Mark’s Square, according to a report in the Miami Herald. The grave was discovered during excavations carried out before work began to restore the paving stones of the square. Archaeologist Sarah Beeney said the tomb contained the remains of seven people, including an eight-year-old child and a woman.

“The stone structure of the tomb suggests that the deceased were important people,” Bini told Italian newspaper Il Gazzettino.

Near the tomb, researchers discovered traces of walls and floors, identified as the Church of San Geminiano. Archival records show that the church was built during the early Middle Ages and destroyed in the early nineteenth century.

Based on archival sources, archaeologists knew that the Church of San Geminiano was built somewhere in Piazza San Marco in the early Middle Ages.

The exact location of the original church has been lost for centuries, according to archaeologists.

To date, archaeologists have also discovered fragments of medieval pavements and walls. Excavations in the square have been completed and the paving stones will be returned to their place, officials have already announced. Sarah Bini claims in an interview with the newspaper Il Gazzettino that the newly found remains will be further analyzed.

Documents from the archives state that the first church of San Geminiano was built by order of the Byzantine general Narses in the mid-6th century AD as a sign of gratitude for Venice’s contribution to his reconquest of Ravenna. Saint Mark the Evangelist was not even the patron saint of Venice at that time, so St. Mark’s Square did not exist.

The Church of San Geminiano burned to the ground in 976, and a new one was built in the first decade of the 11th century. This church burned down and collapsed after an earthquake around 1108. The reconstructed church was then demolished at the end of the 12th century to accommodate the expansion of Piazza San Marco. It was moved to another location in the newly expanded area. The 12th century church was demolished at the beginning of the 16th century and a new one was moved again. This last building stood until 1807, when it was demolished by Napoleon to make way for a new wing of long colonnaded buildings that span three sides of the square.