Do the Cicchetti Crawl in Venice

Cicchetti Pub ~ rub elbows with the locals

Venice has much to be admired for, including St. Marks Basilica, Byzantine art, the rambling Museo Correr, the famed Rialto Bridge crowded with shops, and winding waterways.

Gondola traffic on the Venetian Canals

However, the one thing I look forward to the most, without exception, is doing the Cicchetti pub crawl.

Seeking Cicchetti Bars in Venice

Looks like Pub possibilities straight ahead

Also known as the Venetian Crawl, it’s intended for the locals who stop by after work to munch on “toothpick uglies” downed with glasses of wine. These uglies range anywhere from crostini with toppings, deep-fried mozzarella cheese, gorgonzola, calamari, artichoke hearts, sliced hard-boiled eggs, marinated seafood, olives and prosciutto with melon. Plates of these tidbits usually line the top of the bar. The ‘bacarri,’ or local pubs, open at 6 pm and generally close early.

Cicchetti pub eats. Not so ugly!

Cicchetti pubs are found on the back alleys. They are generally small and unpretentious. A popular one will have a spilling out of people holding small plates of bites and a drink. There are no cars in Venice, so no need to concern yourself with driving home safely. Just make sure you can swim!

More Pub Grub….Yum…

Ombra, small glasses of wine, are typically offered. However, a whole slew of drinks are available upon request. These include prosecco (local sparkling wine), and spritz (white wine with added bitters and seltzer water). Non-alcoholic drinks include arancietta (small glasses of carbonated orange soda), cochetta (small glasses of Coca-Cola or Pepsi), san bitter (slightly carbonated aperitif, similar to spritz without the alcohol), and gingerino (ginger-based aperitif) with no alcohol. It can be served with a small amount of sparkling or still water, or white wine. Mineral water is also offered as either sparkling of still.

Venice back roads

I found that the further away from the main tourist attractions I ventured, the better and more original the cicchetti pubs became. It is getting harder to find an authentic pub anymore. One that is not too far from the Rialto bridge and down a little winding alley is called Do Mori (San Polo 429 Calle dei Do Mori) which claims to be the oldest bacaro in Venice, dating back to 1462. With a dark wooden interior and copper pots hanging everywhere, it’s a no miss. This pub is famous for its francobollo, postage-stamp tiny white bread sandwiches filled with sliced meats, roasted vegetables, raddichio or gorgonzola.

I love the social atmosphere, the hubbub of people ending their workdays and relaxing into their evening repasts. The only non-touristy eateries in Venice, they offer insight into the life of the average working class resident. And this, I believe, is what makes the heart and soul of Venice come alive.

Who Stole St. Marks Body?

A moonless night covered the Egyptian city of Alexandria like a dark cloak. Two figures scurried down through the town and toward the harbor, pushing a cart, where a ship awaited them.  A small envoy of men gathered on deck, ready to help them lift the cargo onboard. Mission accomplished, they quickly set sail for Venice. It was the year 828.

Pork and cabbage leaves filled the cart, meat that the Muslim guards refused to touch since they considered it unclean. Little did they know, or even suspect, that they had just lost their city’s most precious relic, the body of St. Mark the Evangelist, buried underneath.

Why all the excitement over St. Mark? Who would go to such lengths as to steal a body from another country? Who exactly is he?

Mark was born in Cyrene, which is in Libya today, to Jewish parents. After migrating to Palestine, he witnessed the ministry of Jesus Christ and became a follower. Mark is the author of the earliest gospel of the New Testament.

In his lifetime, Mark founded the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria in 48 AD. Unfortunately, the citizens began to resent him for attempting to turn them from pagan worship. Finally, in AD 68, a rope was put around his neck and he was drug through the city until dead.

San Marco’s Basilica from the water side

Ah, to have the relics of a saint, (all but his head, which was left in Alexandria), and a popular one at that. This alone could catapult a city’s status and prestige above that of others. ‘Steal the best saint-build a cathedral around the bones.’ And so the Venetians did.

Once Marks body arrived back in Venice and into the Doge’s (ruler of Venice) lap, construction began on a church next to his palace to house the precious relics. Great excitement embraced the people for having attained the relics of St. Mark, which elevated Venice equal in status to that of Rome. San Marco’s Basilica remained a private church of the Doge, and was not made public until the 1800’s.

San Marco’s Basilica behind the Doge’s Palace on the right

Sinister happenings occurred in 1063 during the construction of a new basilica. St. Marks body was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t until 1094 that, according to tradition, Marks arm appeared, extended from a pillar in the church and pointing to his relics. Where they were or what happened no one knows for sure.

Domes of San Marco

The Pala d’Oro, meaning “Golden Cloth,” an altarpiece embellished with gold and precious jewels brought back from the sack of Constantinople during the 4th crusade, is part of the High Altar in the basilica which houses the remains of St. Mark. At a later time, some of the relics were given to Cairo’s Cathedral of St. Mark.

Pala d’Oro and St. Marks relics below the altar

Close-up of Pala d’Oro embedded with precious jewels

What begins as sinister seldom ends without suspicion. Recent speculation from a British historian, Andrew Chugg, claims the bones under the High Altar in Venice are not those of St. Mark, but of Alexander the Great. Because of gaps in history regarding body whereabouts of both, without DNA testing there is no way of knowing. Deemed as doubtful by his colleagues, St. Mark continues to keep his basilica securely in Venice.

Related Articles:

*The Bones of St. Mark

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The Bronze Beauties of St. Marks

The Original Bronze Horses of St. Marks Basilica

Surrounded by legend. Steeped in mystery. Baffling, bewildering and perplexing. These magnificent bronze horses that pranced high above the arched loggia of St. Marks Basilica in Venice for 500 years have been talked about for centuries, even to this day.

They excite me and fuel my imagination. As I did some research on their beginnings and followed their trail throughout the centuries, I was amazed. It was a trail full of twists and turns that brought them safely ‘home’ to Venice in the end.

St. Marks Basilica and square~ the bronze horses stood above the central arch over the mosaic

Horses (copies) on St. Marks Basilica today

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Believed to have originally been part of a quadriga, four horses pulling a chariot and driver, their composition is unusual. Made of 98% copper, 1% lead and 1% tin to give a more satisfactory guild, they are the only creations of this mix to survive from antiquity. They were created with long legs and short backs as if to be viewed from below.

Quadriga on top of Victor Emanuel in Rome

Who cast the gilded bronze into these dreamlike mythical horses? Were they loot from Rome, or Greece? Why is their history so vague? So mystifying?

The dawn of their forging has been attributed to classical antiquity, created by the famed Greek sculptor Lysippos in the 4th century BC. Lysippos contrived portraits for Alexander the Great, some of which were equestrian statues.

Alexander the Great on horseback believed to be sculpted by Lysippos

Curiously, the ears of the four horses of St. Marks and Alexanders horse are almost identical. For this reason, many art historians have drawn conclusions that they were made by the same person. Hmmm….could be.

Hippodrome of Constantinople-Believed Horses stood atop Central Arch.

What is certain about the horses is that they did stand atop the Hippodrome in Constantinople, placed there by emperor Constantine in the mid 320’s, to commemorate the chariot races. And there they stayed for 900 years. But what happened prior to this time?

No one knows for sure. Speculations abound. It is thought that the four “Lysippos” horses were brought to Rome by Nero. Evidently he had it in his mind to use them as decor at his Golden Palace (Domus Aurea).

Domus-Aurea-what’s left of it.

The Fourth crusade, which became the conquest of Constantinople in the early 13th century, set out to travel by sea. Realizing their need for assistance in getting across the water, they worked out a deal with the Doge of Venice. He was up for it provided they delivered a big chunk of the booty to him as repayment. Prominent in the looted goods from Constantinople were the four horses, which the Doge claimed for himself, along with several other treasures displayed in St. Marks today.

Doge Enrico Dandolo

The four horses were not put up on St. Marks Basilica immediately, but stored in the arsenal which left them a constant temptation for metal-hungry cannon makers. A later Doge put them above the loggia of the basilica as a symbol of Venetian power. There they rested for 500 years. Yet there was more to come.

Napoleon looted Venice in 1797, escaping with crates of masterpieces, the famed winged Lion of St. Mark, and the four gilded horses. All were shipped off to Paris, where the horses, along with a chariot, set atop the Arc du Carrousel, the triumphal arch on the Tuileries end of the Champs-Elysees.

Arc du Carrousel, Paris

In 1815, Vienna sent them back to Venice. Then during world war I, they were moved to Rome for safe keeping. Later during the war (1942), they were removed yet again and hidden in a Benedictine abbey at Praglia, to be returned to St. Marks after the war.

Today, copies of the four horses stand above the central loggia on St. Marks Basilica. The original horses have suffered from pollution and are housed in the museum inside the basilica.

Original Horses housed in the museum in St. Marks Basilica

It has been a long and winding road for these remarkable bronze beauties. They prance proudly through time immortal, bearing themselves exquisitely. Their allure and magnificence, adored by the ancient Greeks and Romans, valued enough to be looted and transported from country to country, has brought these mighty beasts worldwide reverence. Who really knows when and how they came into being. They reserve the right to remain mysterious. It is enough that they stay as they are, beautiful and free, ancient yet everlasting.

“Dance above ground, never descending. Grace Incarnate, Passion on Hooves….”

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