A British historian is claiming that the venerated tomb of St Mark in Venice contains not the great evangelist but the body of the most famous warlord in history. A mighty storm arose as the grave robbers left Alexandria en route to Venice. The Basilica of St. Mark is the most important religious temple in the city of Venice. While still on the road, one of Alexander’s successors, Ptolemy, seized the body and interred it in Memphis, Egypt. , now on display in the British Museum. The block, now on display at the Cloister of St Apollonia in Venice, depicts a relief of shield, greaves, sword, and portion of a spear. Almost complete, its intended occupant had fled Egypt, and the magnificent tomb lay unoccupied when Ptolemy arrived with Alexander’s body, needing a temporary resting place fit for such a great king. There are no circumstances under which ancient Christians would have followed pagan mummification practices. Mosaic of Saint Mark’s body being venerated, from the exterior of Saint Mark’s Basilica in Venice, via Aleteia, found near Saint Mark’s body in the Basilica crypt, now on display in the Cloister of St. Apollonia, Venice, via Ancient Origins, A final piece of sculpture provides the most intriguing and unanswered questions as to the origins of the body in the tomb of Saint Mark. Dorotheus, Eutychius, and the Chronicon Paschale state that Mark’s killers burned his body as a final snub to Christians. Furthermore, Andrew Chugg has made measurements based on an extrapolation of the original stone’s dimensions. And it was in 828 A.D. that two Venetian merchants stole his remains and brought them back to Venice by ship, after hiding them in a chest full of vegetables and pork to avoid strict Muslim control. Mosaic image of the theft of Saint Mark’s body from Alexandria, Saint Mark’s Basilica, Venice, via Boston College Libraries. Author Andrew Chugg proposes that the supposed body of Saint Mark actually is that of the famous Alexander the Great, rebranded as Mark in the midst of the Theodosian Decrees in order to save the famous conqueror from destruction by Christians. The church was consecrated on 8th October 1094 when the body of St. Mark was definitively deposited in a marble tomb beneath the high altar. The… Perhaps the theory is little more than eager speculation. Perhaps Alexander’s body was. Evidence of bone damage and healing in these two locations would be reason to warrant further investigation. He was the first Bishop of the Church in Alexandria, was known for his ascetic nature, and accompanied St. Paul and St. Barnabas on their journeys. Author Andrew Chugg proposes that the supposed body of Saint Mark actually is that of the famous Alexander the Great, rebranded as Mark in the midst of the Theodosian Decrees in order to save the famous conqueror from destruction by Christians. A British historian is claiming that the venerated tomb of St Mark in Venice contains not the great evangelist but the body of the most famous warlord in history. Martino da Canale in La Cronique des Veniciens from 1275, related that “If all the spices of the world had been gathered together in Alexandria, they could not have so perfumed the city” as did the aroma of spices coming from the corpse – consistent with mummification. A text called “the Acts of Saint Mark” gives the explanation that a miraculous storm put out the flames and the Christians were able to snatch the corpse from the pyre. However, Roman military tactics rendered them obsolete, making later Roman carvings of such a spear unlikely. The Flavian Emperors left their mark on Roman history. He asserts that the slab is a perfect match to be an outer cover of the sarcophagus of Nectanebo II, now on display in the British Museum. A mosaic of St Marks body welcomed into Venice, at St Mark's Basilica, Venice. We can only hope that one day the work will be done to provide answers to the mystery of Alexander the Great’s tomb. It was a symbol closely associated with Alexander’s family and visible on many related tombs. "If this is true, then it was Alexander's remains - not those of St Mark - that were stolen by Venetian merchants and taken back to their native city some four centuries later." For further details, check out the book The Quest for the Tomb of Alexander the Great by Andrew Chugg. The block, now on display at the Cloister of St Apollonia in Venice, depicts a relief of shield, greaves, sword, and portion of a spear. Furthermore, Andrew Chugg has made measurements based on an extrapolation of the original stone’s dimensions. ", THE GRAIL TRAIL - AND UNKNOWN RESTING PLACES. Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. The most likely explanation is that he was suffering from a form of malaria that frequently ends in a coma. However, his condition only worsened. Built between 829 and 832, St. Mark’s Basilica was originally created as a sepulcher to store his body which was brought as a relic from Alexandria to Venice by Venetian merchants in 828. A smaller church initially housed the remains. "There's certainly a chance it could be true, because there's a historical gap that needs to be filled," he said. The Macedonian funerary block found near Saint Mark’s body in the Basilica crypt, now on display in the Cloister of St. Apollonia, Venice, via Ancient Origins. The church was begun in 828 when the body of St Mark was stolen, smuggled by merchants from Egypt and returned to Venice. The data on the body of St Mark have been published in the Leonardo Manin volumes, Memorie storico-critiche intorno la vita, translazione, e invenzioni di san Marco evangelista principale protettore di Venezia, Venice 1815 and 1835. At that point, Christianity triumphs and nobody has a voice to say where this pre-Christian hero is buried. Soon he was periodically losing the ability to speak and falling in and out of consciousness. His friends commissioned a gold sarcophagus and gold casket to hold Alexander’s body, as well as a massive, ornate funerary cart to carry the casket back to Macedonia for burial. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark (Italian: Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica (Italian: Basilica di San Marco; Venetian: Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. Records detail visits to Alexander’s tomb by several, . In 1063 Doge Domenico Contarini commissioned the construction of a new basilica to keep the remains of the Evangelist Mark; the ruins of previous buildings were transformed into a crypt and the new basilica was built above it. Alexander’s top generals had been his closest friends since their childhoods together in the Macedonian court. Alexander III of Macedon, better known as, , fell terribly ill. Yet by 400 A.D., John Chrysostom visited Alexandria and hoped to see the famous tomb, but its location was lost. Yet certainly, the mystery is an intriguing one, and the questions and coincidences curious enough to warrant investigation. Additionally, records indicate that linen wrappings sealed the corpse at that time. The present day St. Mark’s was begun in 1063 when the Doge Domenico Contarini commissioned an architect, probably Greek, to build a church on ancient foundations, using the ancient walls of previous buildings. Alexander, whose cult had worshipped him as a god since his death, would have been a prime target of this destruction. Their reforms led to stability and their massive building campaigns are still visited by millions... Greek Mythology is rife with stories of transformation. The procession never completed its journey. He had conquered much of the ancient Mediterranean world, and he had no intention of stopping. Augustus before the tomb of Alexander, by Sébastien Bourdon, c. 1642-1652, State Hermitage Museum, Alexander’s body remained in his magnificent tomb for centuries, a fact well documented by ancient sources. "Both bodies were said to be mummified in linen, and one seems to disappear at the same time that the other appears - in almost exactly the same place, near the central crossroads of Alexandria," he writes. His friends commissioned a gold sarcophagus and gold casket to hold Alexander’s body, as well as a massive, ornate funerary cart to carry the casket back to Macedonia for burial. He commented on “Alexandria where the corpse of Alexander is displayed.”, Missorium of Theodosius, ceremonial plate, 4th-5th century A.D., Real Academia de la Historia, The short span of time in which Alexander’s tomb disappeared from the written record was a time of great turmoil in the ancient world. Ten years of constant military campaigning had only strengthened that bond. It lies at the eastern end of the Piazza San Marco, adjacent and connected to the Doge's Palace. Surrounded by treasure and slaves - buried alive alongside him - the great khan was interred on top of an as yet unidentified mountain in Mongolia. Mosaics in the Basilica depict the body as an intact corpse rather than a skeleton. But it is not the tomb of Alexander, the tomb belongs to Saint Mark. Share. St. Mark the Evangelist (Feast Day: April 25th) is the author of the Gospel of Mark and is one of the 70 Apostles. A British historian is claiming that the venerated tomb of St Mark in Venice contains not the great evangelist but the body of the most famous warlord in history. By the late 7, century A.D., Arab forces had conquered much of North Africa, including Alexandria. Lack of that damage would be sufficient to dismiss theories of the body being that of Alexander. This sarcophagus was long associated with Alexander. Hi, Mark! The church you see today is the third incarnation of a church in this location. Who is buried in St Mark Venice? Venice, Italy: St. Mark's Basilica. A large piece of carved limestone, a broken portion of a larger original, was found only a few meters from the site of Mark’s original tomb … The procession never completed its journey. 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