Republic of Venice Venice, at one with the sea, was being born. Agnello was succeeded by his son Giustiniano, who stole the remains of Saint Mark the Evangelist from Alexandria, took them to Venice, and made him the republic's patron saint. According to tradition, Saint Mark was the founder of the Patriarchate of Aquileia. With the patriarch's flight to Grado after the Lombard invasion, the patriarchate split into two: one on the mainland, under the control of the Lomabrds and later the Franks, and the other in Grado on the lagoons and the areas under Byzantine control; this would later become the Patriarchate
San Tomà, Venice San Tomà, Venice San Tomà (San Toma) is a church which is located in the sestiere of San Polo in Venice, Italy. It stands opposite the Scoletta dei Calegheri. The church is named after "San Tommaso Apostolo" (Saint Thomas the Apostle). A church on the site dates back to the tenth century, the present orientation was set in 1395, and the exterior and much of the interior decorations are due to reconstructions in the 16th and 17th centuries. For example, The Baroque architecture layout we see today was completed in 1652 by Giuseppe Sardi, using a design originally by Baldassare