Many Italian cities are ready to compete with Rome, the city where all roads lead. But many tourists first of all dream of getting to beautiful Venice, where sights are found at every turn. The main heraldic symbol, the coat of arms of Venice, is also ready to tell many legends about the historical past of this amazing city on the water.
Saint Mark's lion
Compositionally, the coat of arms of Venice consists of two important elements - a shield of a very beautiful, rather rare form, painted blue, and a precious headdress.
The central image on the shield is a formidable predator lion, which is depicted facing the viewer. The second feature of the picture is that the animal is holding a book with text in Latin. The lion is the symbol of Saint Mark. In total, four evangelists were known in the history of the Christian religion, each of whom had its own symbol - a lion, a bull, an eagle and a man (or angel).
Mark the Evangelist is directly related to Venice. When Alexandria was occupied by Muslims, the Venetian merchants, listening to the requests of Doge Giustiniano Partechipazio, secretly removed the holy relics of the righteous man. And although Saint Theodore was considered the first patron saint of Venice, over time he was significantly ousted by Saint Mark and at the same time became the patron of the city.
Due to the fact that the relics of the saint appeared here, the city became a center of pilgrimage for the inhabitants of medieval Europe. After that, the authorities of the Venetian Republic decide to introduce the lion of St. Mark in the image of the coat of arms.
Peace to you
The lion on the heraldic sign of Venice is not just a predatory animal, a symbol of the evangelist. In his paws he holds a book with a phrase in Latin - PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEUS. This text can be translated as a greeting to St. Mark, the joy of the Venetians about the salvation of a Christian shrine from the hands of Muslim conquerors.
It is important that the image of a lion holding a book in its paws is considered a symbol of the Venetian fleet (both merchant and military), and is placed not only on the coat of arms, but also on the flag of the city. One of the most interesting facts is noted by historians - during the wars, a book in the hands of a predator was replaced with a sword, as if reminding that residents are ready to defend the borders of their beloved city and are under the auspices of a formidable lion.
For tourists visiting Venice today, one of the entertainment is the search for images of the main symbol hidden in the secluded corners of the city. Moreover, the lion still holds the book with one paw, and raised the other, as if welcoming the guest who found the sign.
