Pero Tafur a Venezia (1436-1439) e le colonne di San Marco e Todaro

Luigi Sperti;Andrea Zinato

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Abstract

The ‘Castilian’ Pero Tafur (about 1410 - ca 1487), chose Venice as a logistics base for his pilgrimage to the Holy Land and his travels (1436-1439). He remains fascinated by the city, and describes the main monuments of St. Mark’s area, focusing in particular on the two columns of the Piazzetta. The report offers an opportunity to review the problem of the origin of the two colossal granite shafts of the monuments, traditionally attributed to Constantinople. For historical and archaeological reasons, it is assumed that the shaft of the column of Mark comes from Alexandria Troas, near the quarries of marmor Troadense.