April 25, Venice celebrates the feast of St. Mark, the patron saint of the city. On the day it takes place a religious procession with destination the Basilica of San Marco. The San Marco square is festively decorated and the windows of the New Procuratie are exposed 105 hand-painted tapestries by the artist Sandrafiore Alessandri.
The participation of the Venetians for this event is great because the Venetian story goes that just the Evangelist Mark, while he was alive, he would have evangelized the region and thus became the patron
and emblem of the city in the shape of a winged lionwielding a sword and holds in his paws a book on whose open pages reads: “Pax Tibi Marce Evangelista Meus”, “Peace to you oh Mark My Evangelist.” Tradition has it that on this day the Venetian gift to a woman loved “bocolo,” a rosebud, to symbolize their love.
