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VENICE 297 and on the top of the bridge are three busy passages, divided by rows of shops. But the only street worthy of the name is the Merce- ria, the great commercial thoroughfare, which is connected with the Rialto by intricate and overcrowded lanes. Of the churches, the most important is St. Mark's, on the E. side of the square, which was formerly the ducal chapel, but is now superseded by San Pietro di Cas- tello as the cathedral. The foundations of the present edifice were laid in 977. It is built chiefly in the Byzantine style, in the form of a Greek cross with the addition of large por- ticoes. Venetian vessels were obliged to bring St. Mark's Place. from the East pillars and marbles for the edi- fice, the principal front of which has 500 col- umns of various shapes and colors. Over the central portal of the vestibule stand the cele- brated bronze horses, brought from the hip- podrome of Constantinople when that city was taken by the crusaders; they were car- ried to Paris by Napoleon, but restored in 1815. The cathedral is surmounted by five domes, the central one 90 and the others 80 ft. high. The interior is rather sombre, owing to the limited number of windows, but it is ex- ceedingly rich, the walls and columns being of precious marbles, the pavement of tessellated marble, and the vaulting of mosaics npon a gold ground. Near the angle of the squares is the campanile or bell tower of St. Mark, where Galileo made many observations. It is a quad- rangular mass of brick, 823 ft. high and 42 ft. square at the base, with a pyramidal pinnacle. There are altogether about 100 churches, and several synagogues. Santi Giovanni e Paolo, popularly called San Zanipolo, contains the monuments of many doges and other illustri- ous persons. Titian's "St. Peter Martyr," one of its greatest ornaments, was destroyed by fire in 1807. The Franciscan church (Sta. Maria Gloriosa de' Frari) contains the an- cient archives and monuments of Titian and Canova. Sta. Maria della Salute possesses Titian's "Descent of the Holy Spirit," and since 1820 the remains of Sansovino. II Redentore, on the Giudecca island, is regarded as Palla- dio's masterpiece. San Salvatore, near the Rialto bridge, possesses Titian's " Transfigura- tion," and splendid monuments by Sansovino, one of the chief architects of the building. Among other noteworthy churches are S. Gior- gio Maggiore,' S. Zaccaria, SS. Apostoli, S. Francesco della Vigna, S. Giorgio de' Greci, S. Jacopo di Rialto, Sta. Lucia, La Madonna dell' Orto, S. Casiano, de' Gesuiti (with the tomb of Manin, the last doge), S. Giobbe, Sta. Ma- ria della Salute, S. Moise, and S. Stefano, the last being one of the finest in the pointed style. The adjacent island of San Lazaro has been since 1715 the principal seat of the Mekhitarist congregation of Armenian monks, established there by their founder ; they are celebrated for editing Armenian works, and for generally promoting Armenian and European literature. (See MEKHITAR.) The doge's palace, built early in the 9th century, has been repeatedly de- stroyed, generally by fire. In the 14th century it was rebuilt by Marino Falieri. The present edifice dates from subsequent periods. It con- tains the magnificent hall of the great council, now used as offices of provincial authorities,