Mark, St (lived 1st century AD)

St Mark's Square (the Piazza San Marco) is at the centre of Venice. It contains the 11th-century cathedral of St Mark, who is the patron saint of the city. This five-domed Byzantine cathedral is decorated with marble and mosaics, and four Greek bronze horses dating from the 3rd or 4th century. Sculptures of lions, the symbol of St Mark, are to be found in the square and on its buildings.

In the New Testament, Christian apostle and evangelist whose name is given to the second Gospel. It was probably written AD 65–70, and used by the authors of the first and third Gospels. He is the patron saint of Venice, and his emblem is a winged lion. His feast day is 25 April.

His first name was John, and his mother, Mary, was one of the first Christians in Jerusalem. He was a cousin of Barnabas, and accompanied Barnabas and Paul on their first missionary journey. He worked with Paul in Rome, and later became Peter's interpreter after Paul's death. According to tradition he was the founder of the Christian church in Alexandria, and St Jerome says that he died and was buried there.