The relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist were stolen from Alexandria in Egypt and smuggled to Venice. San Marco would become the city’s patron saint and the relics safeguarded in St Mark's Basilica.

According to tradition, Giustiniano Participazio, ninth Doge of Venice, ordered merchants, Buono di Malamocco and Rustico di Torcello, to corrupt the Alexandrine monks which guarded the body of the evangelist and steal it away secretly to Venice. Hiding the body amongst some pork, the Venetian ship slipped through customs and sailed into Venice on 31 January 828 with the body of Saint Mark. Giustiniano decided to build a ducal chapel dedicated to Saint Mark to house his remains: the first Basilica di San Marco in Venice.