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
Saint Isaac's Square Saint Isaac's Square Saint Isaac's Square or Isaakiyevskaya Ploshchad (), known as Vorovsky Square () between 1923 and 1944, in Saint Petersburg, Russia is a major city square sprawling between the Mariinsky Palace and Saint Isaac's Cathedral, which separates it from Senate Square. The square is graced by the equestrian Monument to Nicholas I. The Lobanov-Rostovsky House (1817–20) on the west side of the square was designed by Auguste de Montferrand. It may be described as an Empire style building that has an eight-column portico facing the Admiralty building. The main porch features the twin statues of Medici lions on