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Mechitarist Monastery
In 1717, the Armenian order of the Mechitarist Fathers (named after the founding father, Mechitar) was granted use of Isola di San Lazzaro degli Armeni, which centuries before had been a leper colony and earlier still the site of a Benedictine hospice for pilgrims. The Mechitarist monastery became an important centre of learning and repository of Armenian culture, which it remains to this day.
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Oratorio Dei Crociferi
Virtually across the road from the grand Gesuiti church is this tiny 12th-century oratory, once part of a medieval hospice that has long since ceased to exist. It appears the brothers of the Crociferi order who set up here came from Rome. The hospice had a dual role, as was common at the time: to give shelter to pilgrims and provide assistance to the sick.
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Pala D'oro
Behind the altar at the Basilica di San Marco, the exquisite Pala d'Oro is a gold, enamel and jewel-encrusted altarpiece (measuring 384cm by 212cm) made in Constantinople for Doge Pietro Orseolo I in 976. It was enriched and reworked in Constantinople in 1105, enlarged by Venetian goldsmiths in 1209 and reset in the 14th century. Among the almost 2000 stones that adorn it are 526 pearls, 320 emeralds, rubies, amethysts, sapphires, jasper, topaz and coralline.
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Tesoro
The Tesoro, accessible from the right transept at the Basilica di San Marco, contains most of the booty from the 1204 raid on Constantinople, including a thorn said to be from the crown worn by Christ. Some extraordinary 10th- to 11th-century chalices, made of sardonyx, alabaster, glass and silver, figure among the most beautiful pieces, along with some stunning icons and a 14th-century reliquary box that belonged to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
