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Show j Famous Structure Decays y (SneclAl C'tirrrstMinileiien 1 one or one tn ancient structures ot linrope, after centnrh of neglect, are falling Iniu decay Westminster abbey ha fallen a lctlm to the gases of lxindou, and It being r-plrd. the noble Alhainbra the monument left by the Moor as a legacy In Hpalu, has almost surrendered to the ravagea of time anil Denied, (no )eors ago the majestic Campanile, In Venice, crumbled Into dust In the Plnun Han Marco, almmt without warning, and now the glory of Venice, the beautiful blue-domed Church of Ban Marco, which warn venerable even when the republic on the Adriatic wa In the heyday of tin power, la found to be In danger of collapse The report of Prof Manfrcdl and Signer Mnrangonl. recently submitted, gave mme Alarming Information about the condition of 8t Marka Tho greeteet dancer to this basilica la In Ihn foundation, which have linn con lantly giving way In dlvi dlrec Htm. All the wall show mull crack Ing and weakening that It lend to the conclusion that under the niapnMc nt drew itf marble and m. ale M con rented the moat alarming decrepitude Ho bad la the condition of tin' vaults culled the Paradise and Aiocilii -. that their complete and definite n-tnratkin n-tnratkin la nbioliitel neci --or) It 13 a miracle that the) maintain Hi ir equilibrium. That 8t. .Mark a be preserved la no longer merely a iU-llnn fur Venice to answer, for artistically Hint glorl (Hit treasure belong to tin world Who can conceive id a enlct without thla Krnnd old basilica iinilrr which lie hurled the rcmuliix of the lion hearted Mint In whtise honor tho ed Idee vns raked' It la the loadstone of the Place or Plana of HI Murk, and the Place of HI Mark a Mr How ella hna tldd thoae of 11a who did not know It, la the heart of Venice Treasury of Art. St. Mark'a la more than a church; It la n treasury of art, for In the Mlddlu Ages, when the lleeta of the Venetlnna ruled the seas, In the dnya when Turka were to lie fought In those re-llgtoua re-llgtoua wnra known na Crusades, when Ihu shores of the eastern Medllerrnn-ran Medllerrnn-ran were kept In order b the n public pub-lic of the Adriatic, the cholceat ipolla from every sacked city or town wero ' brought to Venice and added to tho nrt treasure of Kt .Mark'a Of those, ocrhapa tho mom notable nro tho four antique nrome nnrsc wnlch ornament the facuile Fuih of them weigh n ton. and ilnlr origin la Hill unknown It la Mid that they were trenaurcx of Alexandria and were carried to Jtnuic by Augustus afler he defeateil Marc Antou) In a II. C It la alao aald that the Itoman ennwnira idaced Hum on aa man) tiluniphul archea In the Klerual fit) That Conatautlne took them off lo CiinMnntlnople to grace lila hlpiNHlroine ll Is definite!) known, however thai when the VenMlana Racked Conatnntlnople. afler Ihn lego In the jinr 1203. the four horse wuro trunKirliil to Vinke nnd act ip on Ht. .Mark'a When Nnpnleun wna conquering con-quering Ital) he. with hl Dirk A Ken Idem, packed oil tho horse with audi other trenmre as Ilia artistic tasto dictated to Paris From 1797 until 1815 the horsi a wire In Parla, for with lh" i dip e of the first emeror ! ' Pulpit, Cathedral of St. Mark, tho parlous countries he had plundered plun-dered reqiioitt'd tho return of tho loot, and tho king of France, wham they had restored to bin throne, could not very well refuse. Familiar for Centuries. Tho three cedar pill, or llagstntfs, which rlao from the pnement of the I square In front of the church to above j tho bronto horse, have been familiar i objects for centuries. In tho old daa the bann- ' Cvprun, Oandla and the Unnu tloatei rrom them, recalling the victories of the Venetians, but now on Sundays and festivals the Ital Ian color Hnal from them Another Interesting object of the square la the clock of the Torreo dell' Orolnglo, on the top of which tto Iminie figure of Moors atrlkt) a bell with each hour The legend has It Hint one of these tollers of the hour la n murderer Once upon n time n INMir workman, unconscious that hour was about lo be tolled. KOt within reach of one of the (Inures, nnd hclag struck with the swinging; hammer hhh Clock Tower, waa thrown to hi dentliinlhi squnro below The clod. I n it nnll n wurk of art, but BHc n tnrkl) rf lufnrma lion It dial I of Mil' nnd MM nnd upon II nre told not only the Italrili , lioura, which run from one to twenty-' twenty-' four but the quarters of the mom and the imsltlun of the twehe algns of he sodlac On the upiier slur), nboio the dial, la n gigantic lion, nnd beneath be-neath It n glided statue of tho VlrKln Mnry DurlnK the month of May. at certain hours, n door near thla flguro opens nml the Magi appear, pas before be-fore her.' salute her with their crowns j nnd disappear by nnothir door. History of the Columns. The columns of St. Mark's, llko -sGs -"PJiJfcMSl Famous Drldgo of 8lnhs. "iirMhlng about the square navo 'li Ir hlstnr) Thej form a sort of opt n door from the molo, and are the first object which nltrnct tho ttrnnger who enters Venlco from the ea There were originally three col-iimna col-iimna brought from the Islanda of the archipelago In 1127, but one sank t'litlrel) out of stlfrttt nnd hns never been r cm oi nl. For half n century the two laid on Iho shoro, for no onu could rnlfe them Then the l)ogo So-Imstlan So-Imstlan fllanl promised to Kraut the request of nmouo who would place them In posl.lon. A certain Nlccolo, who wna called "the blackleK," mic cecded, nnd then requested thu prll-lego prll-lego of Knmlillnt; between tho col limns, fur It wna forbidden In Venice Thla waa allowed, nnd Nlccolo was (trowing wealthy, to the scandal of thu Vein linns Vet their word had betn given, so, Instead of nnnulllnR the privilege It wn ordered that hencerorlh nil executions should take place between the columns That do-Mro)cd do-Mro)cd the gambling monopoly, for linccfnrlh It was considered a place of III omen The trea res In St. Mark'a Itself i would require n very considerable cat-nlogni cat-nlogni In merely suggest their varl- I ety and value lleguti In the )ear 830, thu first churrh was dnttroied by Hie In A7R Subseiuenlly It wns rebuilt re-built and ihn building as wti know It wna ronrciratcd In 108S During; Its building (M'D veel Hint sailed to tin Knst wn ulillgeil to bring a contribution con-tribution for Kt Mark's Within It arc inon ilinii MO pillar of raro Oriental Ori-ental marhlin and some of tho finest llKitntlno miiMilc Within tho Imp- Ulry the inns of granite which forms the nltar is -alii to be the stono on which Clirlrt ntood when he preached lo the people of Tjrc Tho altar cr en date buck to HOC, when It wna brought from Constantinople The high nltar, with It bronre galea and marble columns, once adorned tho Church of fit Sophia In Constantino- pic There will alo bo found In St. I Mark' the famous picture of tho Vlr- I gin believed to have been painted by I Kt Luke |