The Piazzetta, overlooking St. Mark’s Basin, offers a magnificent view of the lagoon.
The two famous columns, from Constantinople, are placed at the entrance to the square in honor of Venice’s first patron saint, St. Theodore, and the patron saint, Mark, respectively, who became such after the legendary theft of his body.
It is said that there were originally three columns and that one, during transshipment, s’inabissò without being able to be recovered. It appears that it is still thereì, waiting to be unearthed again.
Shrouded in mystery è also the technique that Nicolò Barattieri, also builder of the first Rialto Bridge, adoptedò to hoist the columns.